Santi Aldama’s path in the best league in the world has already begun, gradually enjoying more and better opportunities to show off. With a little more than a month of experience in the backpack, we take a look at some keys to highlight from his early stages as a professional in the NBA.
Santi Aldama’s path in the best league in the world has already begun, gradually enjoying more and better opportunities to show off. With a little more than a month of experience in the backpack, we take a look at some keys to highlight from his early stages as a professional in the NBA.
The canary has been fortunate enough to join a franchise that cares about the development of its young players and that prioritizes their evolution, but which, at the same time, is in a competitive situation that forces them to prioritize results over the opportunities to these projects.
For this reason, the G-League offered Aldama a perfect setting to stay active and grow, as well as other moments already in the regular season in the NBA in which to face the “real fire”, so to speak.
Between the development league and his encounters with the Grizzlies , the Spanish player is averaging 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists with 38.1% shooting from the field and 15.9% to triple in a total of 20 games played.
Taking into account that Aldama is only 20 years old and leaves the college directly after going through a university outside the NCAA elite, the feelings are positive and what has been seen so far invites us to think that the power forward will have more options for jump onto the track and develop.
A little over a month after his pro debut against the Portland Trail Blazers, we take a look at Santi Aldama’s biggest keys so far.
Produce in a complicated context
Again, leaving when the game is practically over and the time on the bench since the warm-up work prior to the duel has been so long is not an easy task. However, that is the context in which Aldama finds itself, one that does not seem to change in the near future unless there are a series of notorious casualties or the canary begins to produce at a high level, in such a way that Taylor Jenkins kick him into the rotation on a regular basis.
Within this complex situation, the former Loyola is knowing how to take advantage of his opportunities to show himself as he is while executing the game plan set by the coaching staff. Without going any further, in his debut as a professional he made the most of the 5:34 minutes that he was on the floor to add 7 points and 2 rebounds in a 3 of 6 shooting from the field.
In the absence of minutes, the franchise decided to assign him to the Memphis Hustle of the G League during their preseason, returning in time to join the Grizzlies in their game of the day. This opened the doors for Aldama to recover sensations and intonation. In those two duels he produced an average of 12.5 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 blocks with an effectiveness of 47.6%, leaving actions like these.
The more minutes, the better sensations
His good work during the brief stint in the G League and his evolution during training sessions opened the door for him to have more minutes with the Grizzlies. Since November 26, the power forward has not missed a single game, playing in all of them always more than 10 minutes and alternating excellent games with other not so brilliant, something logical and expected in a rookie.
In those 6 meetings in which he has jumped onto the track, Aldama has managed to average 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds with a 36% success rate facing the basket in 14.8 minutes . A notable increase in their numbers that has a very simple reason and is the great game they had against the Oklahoma City Thunder on December 2.
A night in which the collective performance of the Grizzlies allowed them to enjoy the greatest margin of victory in NBA history and catapulted Aldama to the third best +/- of all time with a +52. That evening was the baptism of the canary in the NBA , adding 18 goals, 10 rejections and a magnificent 8 of 16 in field shots.
Due to this statistical boost, the Loyola player has the honor of being the player with the best net rating of the Grizzlies with a +13.4 thanks to a 107.8 offensive ratio and 94.3 defensive. An anecdote more than a firm fact to take into account.
By continuing on this upward line and maintaining a 10-14 minute rotation, Aldama will gain vital experience in his development and adaptive process in the NBA.