DHJ Quick Take: Mavericks Acquire Santi Aldama From Grizzlies
Dallas adds a versatile 7-foot wing on a team-friendly contract, sending a young guard and draft compensation to Memphis as the Grizzlies trim their roster and retool around Cameron Boozer.
- What does Dallas get? A 25-year-old, 7-foot wing who can play multiple positions, coming off career-best averages of 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
- What does Memphis get? AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 first-round pick and two future second-round picks to add to its rebuild.
- Why does the trade matter? Dallas is using a $20.3 million trade exception from the Anthony Davis trade to complete the deal, while Memphis preserves the $29 million trade exception it created by sending Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope likely next to go.
- What’s next? The deal awaits physicals and league approval before it can be finalized.
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are acquiring Santi Aldama and the draft rights to Tarik Biberovic from the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Hoops Journal has learned. In exchange, Memphis will receive AJ Johnson, a 2030 first-round pick from the Golden State Warriors protected 1-20, and two future second-round picks. The Warriors pick converts to a 2030 second-round selection if it doesn’t convey as a first-rounder.
The trade cannot become official until the new league year opens and both sides clear the necessary physicals, but the framework is done. Dallas is banking on Aldama solidifying a frontcourt rotation still finding its shape around Cooper Flagg, while Memphis adds a lottery-caliber future asset and a young guard still searching for a role to a rebuild now centered on Cameron Boozer.
Roster math is driving Memphis’ side of the deal as much as future assets are. The Grizzlies are working to trim their roster size, and moving on from Aldama helps preserve the $29 million trade exception they created by sending Jaren Jackson Jr. to Utah. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is expected to be the next veteran dealt for similar reasons, a sign Memphis is prioritizing roster flexibility as it retools around Boozer.
Dallas is using its own trade mechanism to make the money work. The Mavericks are absorbing Aldama’s salary through a $20.3 million trade exception created when they sent Anthony Davis to Washington in February.
Santi Aldama Brings Positional Versatility to Dallas Mavericks
Aldama, 25, is coming off the best statistical season of his career, averaging 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 27.9 minutes across 43 appearances before a right knee procedure ended his 2025-26 campaign in mid-March. He totaled 602 points, 287 rebounds and 126 assists over 1,198 minutes, adding 37 steals and 31 blocks, while shooting 47.9% from the field, 35.0% from three-point range and 66.7% from the foul line for a 57.2% true shooting mark. The Grizzlies said at the time that the arthroscopic surgery and orthobiologic injection addressed lingering discomfort in the trochlear compartment of his knee, and he is expected to be ready for training camp.
With Aldama being a 7-foot frontcourt talent who can play multiple positions, the Mavericks are setting up a frontcourt that can pair him with Flagg, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, or Dereck Lively II in various combinations around Flagg and Kyrie Irving, giving coach Dusty May flexibility to adjust based on the matchup. Dallas also added frontcourt depth in this year’s draft, taking Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr. with the No. 9 pick and reuniting him with May, his college coach. However, Dallas is also positioned to at least consider consolidation trade maneuvers, given the team’s significant overlap at the power forward position. Although Aldama and Washington can slide over to play multiple positions, they have spent the majority of their NBA careers primarily as power forwards.
Johnson averaged 13.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists as a sophomore and helped the Wolverines win a national title, and general manager Mike Schmitz pointed to his toughness and motor as the reasons Dallas moved on him that early, even with the frontcourt already crowded behind Flagg.
Memphis re-signed Aldama last July using his Bird rights on a three-year, $52.5 million contract that includes $35.5 million guaranteed and an average annual salary of $17.5 million. His cap hit is $18.5 million this season, then $17.0 million in 2026-27, matching his base salary and dead-cap figure that year, ahead of a $17.0 million club option in 2027-28. The trade also transfers his Bird rights to Dallas, giving the Mavericks multi-year cost certainty at a frontcourt spot that’s been unsettled since the Davis trade in February, plus the ability to re-sign him above the cap when he reaches unrestricted free agency in 2028.
Biberovic, a 6-foot-7 wing Memphis selected 56th overall in 2023, has never played in the NBA, spending the past several seasons starring for Fenerbahce Beko in Turkey, including a EuroLeague title run. He signed a new three-year deal with the club last summer, and it’s unclear whether Dallas will look to bring him over or continue stashing his rights overseas. Based on his track record, it’s more likely he stays overseas.
AJ Johnson, Draft Capital Head to Memphis Grizzlies
Johnson, the No. 23 pick in the 2024 draft, has bounced from Milwaukee to Washington to Dallas without carving out a consistent role, averaging 3.9 points, 1.1 assists and 1.0 rebound in 10.4 minutes across 23 games with the Mavericks this past season. He arrived in Dallas as part of the trade that sent Davis to the Wizards.
A team option on his rookie-scale contract for 2026-27 gives Memphis a low-cost look at whether a fourth organization can unlock the tools that made him a first-round pick in the first place.
The draft compensation adds to Memphis’ rebuild around Boozer, the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft, following the trades of Desmond Bane last offseason and Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jock Landale earlier this season. Ja Morant‘s long-term fit with the roster remains unresolved, and the Warriors’ top-20 protected first-rounder plus two seconds give Memphis added draft capital to work with regardless of how that situation is ultimately resolved.
Dallas Mavericks Also Circling Marcus Sasser
Dallas has emerged as the “leading suitor” to acquire Marcus Sasser from Detroit via trade, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line. Sasser, 25, averaged 5.2 points, 2.0 assists and 1.0 rebound in 38 games for the Pistons this past season and is entering the final year of his rookie contract on a $5.2 million option.
Dallas has more than one trade-exception path to absorb his salary, including the larger exception created in the Davis trade, though a smaller exception tied to Jaden Hardy‘s outgoing salary from that same deal may not have enough room on its own.
Additionally, the Mavericks maintain access to the full $15 million mid-level trade exception as a mechanism to utilize to add to the roster. However, it’s possible to carry that into the regular season for later use.
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