Last-minute Changes, Reports and News ahead of Mavericks vs. Spurs

Cynthia Aldama is once again on the Mavericks injury report tonight, but this time he's listed as questionable. Now while it sounds small, it's not, because he has never played a single game for the Dallas Mavericks just yet. And that's only half of it. Monday the Mavs lost at home to a winless Kings team, while Kyrie Irving was sitting. So tonight, in San Antonio, you might see both of them back on the floor, and here's the update. Start with Santi. The Mavs got him from Memphis this summer, and he still hasn't played since February 4th when he suffered an injury and had an arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on March 17th. Now, he's missed all of Dallas' first seven regular season games. His status has moved up the report. He was out against Houston on October 30th, out again Monday against Sacramento. Now, he's questionable after being doubtful for the basketball games. Dusty Mays said Monday, quote, he's moving closer and closer, and yesterday, quote, Santi's very close. He was spotted at this morning's shoot around and on Instagram he wrote 8 months of a lot of hard work, a lot of patience, closer every day. Our news feed shows a pattern. Return dates have come and gone. He was targeted for October 14th, then October 28th, then November 2nd. Questionable doesn't mean he's playing. It's a game-time call, and his return dates have slipped before, but it's the closest he's been all year. So what do the Mavs actually get if he plays? We'll start how he's grown. In five seasons in Memphis, his scoring went up every year. 4.1, 9, 10.7, 12.5, and then 14 points a game last season in 43 games. Over his whole career, 278 games, he averaged 10.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, and has made 34.6% of his threes. And look at where he shoots from. His corner three was 55.1%, and that's from the 99th percentile in the league. But from above the break, his shot, 28.5%, the 8th percentile. So he's a specialist, not a magic fix. He also scores 1.33 points per possession as a role man, 86th percentile, and rebounds 6.7 a game, 84th percentile. These are holes. He shot 66% from the line, 13th percentile, and then his defensive rating was at 116, 25th percentile. Dusty Mays sees him as a lineup piece. He said Santi could be, quote, a heck of a stretch five in a death lineup. And the Mavs need that because Monday, nobody could shoot. To see why this report matters, remember what Dallas gave up. Memphis received A.J. Johnson, a protected 2030 first-round pick that came from Golden State, and two second-round picks. Dallas also got Marcus Sasser and the rights to Tarik Biberovic. Aldama makes $17 million this season. Only one year is guaranteed. His 27-28 season is a team option, so this is a one-year audition for him. That's real money and a real pick for a player who has zero games in a Mavericks jersey, so you can see why they want to have him on the floor. Now the other half, Kyrie Irving. Kyrie sat Monday with what the Mavs call left-knee management. It was his second missed game this season. Mark Stein reported he was downgraded from questionable to doubtful, and of course the Mavs fell 115-100 to a team that had no wins coming into it. The Kings rookie guard, Darius Sekagura, had 25 points, 5 boards, and 5 assists. That's three straight games with 25-5 and 5-4. James Hamm noted that he's the first rookie to do that since Luka Doncic in January of 2019, and only the 10th rookie ever. Now here's the split. In five games Kyrie has played, Dallas is 4-1, and the two he's missed, they're 0-2. When he plays, he averages 21.4 points and 4.8 assists, shooting 52.7% from the field and 39% for three. Look at his five games so far. 15 points at Houston, 24 at Indiana, 18 at Miami, 15 against OKC, and then 35 against Houston. His best night, of course, coming most recently, the 35 game, coming where the Mavs beat the Houston Rockets at the time who were undefeated, 116-111. And he had 35 points on Friday against Houston on a 63.2% from the field and 5 of 8 from 3. But he tore his ACL in March of 2025 and missed all of last season, so every game is a decision. Mesa, the schedule was a big part of Monday. That was game 4 in 8 days. As of now, he's expected back tonight. He isn't on the injury report, but I don't have the official Mavs status, so let's make sure we check before the final tip, which, of course, will be live for once again tonight against the Spurs at 8.30 p.m. Central Time. Let's go through the rest of the Mavs report because it's definitely crowded. Max Christie, after suffering a hip injury against the Kings, is out. Derek Lively is out with a foot injury. Tarek Brovich is out with a heel injury, and rookie Sergio de la Rea is out with a knee injury. Christie matters most. The Mavs' best lineup by net rating is Kyrie, Flagg, P.J., Gafford, and Christie. 41 minutes, plus six, and number one out of 88 five-man lineups. The Mavs' second best lineup is Kyrie, Sasser, Richerche, Martin, and Gafford, and that group has played 10 minutes together. And no lineup with Aldama exists, as he's played no games, so there are zero minutes on any data with him. And with Christie out, Aldama could be filling a hole, not just adding a piece. Then there's Cooper Flagg, because Aldama and Flagg fit together on paper. Flagg is averaging 25.2 points, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals a game. That's a star. His best game came against the Houston Rockets where he had 33 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists on 68.4% shooting and in the opener against Houston he had 32 points and 3 steals. But he's shooting 23.3% from 3 and on Monday it showed. 17 points on 3 of 19 shooting, 6 turnovers and minus 10 when he was on the court. Now, if you watch this far, make sure you hit that subscribe button as we're getting close to our next milestone. And when we get there, we want you a part of it. The Mavs offense is better this year, though. Their true shooting percentage is at 58.6 percent, eight in the league after finishing 28th last year at 56.4. Meanwhile, the payroll is 188.1 million, 23.1 million over the cap. Flag makes about 14.5 million of it, and it's on a rookie deal. So the shooting is improving and a corner shooter helps make it even better. That's the case for Santi tonight. But tonight comes with a problem. It's Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs are 5-2 and have won five straight, including 122-106 win in Dallas last time out. Their only two losses were on opening night at Oklahoma City, 116-104, and then 114-110 at Houston. Wimby is averaging 25.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, and four blocks a game, with a net rating of plus 19.5. And if you look at his last seven games, he's doing pretty well. 12, 25, 23, 29, 36, 43, and then 12 points last night against Utah. That 43 came with six blocks against Minnesota, and last night he had just 12 points on five turnovers in 24 minutes of a win. The Aaron Fox said quote, Vick's probably the best roller ever to play the game. Probably the best lob threat ever too. Last time he had 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks in just 29 minutes, and the Spurs were plus 32 when he played. And remember, Dallas played that game without Kyrie and without Flack. It's a different matchup for Aldama though. He's the third 1.33 points of possession role man going up against the best rim protector in the game. The good news is the Spurs are missing Tobias Harris with a calf injury and Jaden Quaintance with a knee injury. The betting line right now has San Antonio here by 12.5 points, and the total is at 229.5. Of course, every Kyrie absence makes this trade talk louder. Mark Stein reported the Mavs are rejecting all trade calls on him, and Jake Fisher reported the Miami Heat still are heavily monitoring the situation. Shams reported last week the Heat's asking price likely goes beyond that one future first they already have to trade. He makes about $39.5 million this season, and his 2027-28 year is a player option. Notice the wording, though. Those are all reports. The Mavs haven't said a word and are 4-1 when he plays, so why exactly would they trade him? The next five games tell you how big tonight is. At San Antonio, then home for Utah, Brooklyn, and Indiana, then a road trip that starts in Minnesota. That's three straight home games and three straight on the road, Minnesota, Cleveland, and Boston. Dallas is 4-3 and 9th in the West right now. A good week turns into a real start. Now, here's what I'll be watching. First, the inactive list. It'll come out about an hour before tip, which is when the Aldama call will become official. Second, how many minutes Kyrie actually gets, because that's the number that tells you how this need management really is. And third, whether the Mavs can stop Wimby from getting to the rim. So that's the update. Santi Aldama is questionable for tonight after eight months, and Kyrie Irving is expected back after sitting on Monday. The tip is at 8.30 Central on ESPN, and the Mavs would like to be playing with their full roster. But, you know, we'll see who suits up. And of course, we'll be live for the game at about, say, 8.15. So make sure you come join me and Nick for the stream. My question for you, does Santiago play tonight? Yes or no, drop it in the comments, and for now, we'll see you next time. Peace out.