November 22 was a memorable day on the Mavs calendar, and at the center of it was Grizzly-turned-Mav Santi Aldama.
The Dallas Mavericks traded for Memphis Grizzlies stretch big Santi Aldama on Wednesday, serving as Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz's first major free agency roster move.
Aldama is expected to bring a good amount of shooting and defense, which have lacked on the interior for Dallas, after posting career-highs in points and rebounds last season.
A solid move on paper, it's also been met with some interesting reactions because of Aldama's history with the Mavericks. Notably from Nov. 22 of last season.
Relive Aldama's Trip of Cooper Flagg
Cooper Flagg, Dallas' prized rookie and No. 1 overall draft pick, was under the basket as Aldama crashed to the floor. When Flagg went to hustle to the other end of the floor, Aldama blatantly reached out and grabbed Flagg's shin, forcing him to trip and fall.
Luckily, Flagg avoided any injury, but things spilled into an altercation as Aldama was given a flagrant foul. Things escalated after the obvious attempt for potential harm, especially on such an important player on the Mavs.
Flagg and Aldama had words for one another, Mavs coach Jason Kidd was furious, and veteran Klay Thompson stood up to any Grizzlies player who spoke up, as a way of sticking up for his teammate. Thompson's rage spilled toward the Memphis visitors' bench, where an injured Ja Morant stuck his finger in Thompson's face. Those two needed to be separated, as well.
This week, Morant was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers and Aldama was sent to Dallas to join Flagg and Thompson.
Talk about an awkward first encounter as teammates.
In the game, Flagg finished with a quiet 12 points and seven rebounds, one game removed from a then-season-high 29 points. Thompson led the Mavericks with 22 points off the bench, knocking down six 3-pointers.
To make matters worse for Dallas, Aldama converted a driving layup that extended a Grizzlies scoring run and put Memphis ahead in the final minute of the fourth quarter. The Grizz went on to win 102-96, dropping the Mavs to 5-13 on the young season.
Whether there remains tension between the parties is a topic we'll all move past soon. For one, Kidd is no longer the coach. With Flagg as a generational talent entering Year 2 and new executives taking a swing on the 25-year-old Aldama via a trade, the pair figures to be a duo Dallas can build its future around.
As for Thompson, his Mavs future is questionable. The 36-year-old off-the-bench shooter doesn't fit into Dallas' Flagg-centric timeline, and wasn't the same type of player this year as he's been in the past to have a ton of confidence in him staying at top form.
Though he's under contract, many expect Dallas to move on from Thompson through another trade this offseason.
Things could go in a different direction, but Thompson landing with a new team could be for the better now that Aldama is set to be featured on this upcoming Mavs roster.
