Saint Aldama was limited in his participation in art Maverickstraining camp as he continues to recover from the an arthroscopic intervention on the right knee that he transferred in March, writes Grant Offset of the Dallas Sports Journal. Aldama, who was purchased from Memphis in a July trade, had to miss last month’s World Cup qualifier and the team is being cautious about him in camp.
New head coach Dusty May explained that the medical staff decides on a daily basis who can participate, and clarified that Aldama is in a sense active and not completely “off”. May also discussed Aldama’s potential role as a center who can stretch opposing defenses.
“Obviously, at 7-foot-7, Santi can be a heck of a five in a lethal lineup. The problem is other teams don’t five him.” May said. “Do we have a group that can go punish the five somewhere else, or can he punish a three-man or a four-man, whoever they put against him? So I think, again, the versatility of the lineup, the skill, he gives us another dimension if we want to go with an elite shooting lineup, but Santee’s not just a shooter. He can read closures. He’s learned to play against guys on the perimeter, shoot (fakes), driving and getting into the paint. So that’s going to be one of the many tasks and pieces that we have to put together to make it really good.”
There’s more from Mavericks training camp:
- Daniel Gafford has been the subject of frequent trade speculation, but Maye told Offset that the new staff did an in-depth look at the center’s stats and found him to be one of the league’s best finishers at the basket. “And then you watch him and his ability to score quickly, score through contact, move the ball. That’s something he can already hang his hat on.” May said. “We’re just trying to add a little bit more to his game as far as making decisions on the perimeter. And also, we said, he’s going to be a connector on offense. And then just play more efficiently. He’s going to shoot some rhythm threes. He’s going to protect the rim. We’ve got to make him a little better at switching smaller players, but he’s got a lot of ways he can help this team.”
- May was justifiably surprised that Dallas used its lottery pick Morez Johnson Jrwho was part of his national championship team at Michigan, according to Offset. May missed a text from the president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and did not know who would be chosen until it was announced. “So I was shocked. Their agents started looking at me. Morez and Candidate (Dream) have the same agency May said. “So they started looking at me. So at that point I used some deductive reasoning and decided it was one of two, but I didn’t know which.”
- The transition to the NBA has historically been difficult for college coaches, but Max Christie impressed with May and his staff, Offset adds. “His involvement with us as players and his voice is something that is very loud, especially for a first-year coach.” – said Christy. “And it’s been a lot of fun being coached by him. It’s been fun to watch, to see how he thinks about the game, how he puts players in positions to score and be successful.”