When fully healthy, the Memphis Grizzlies have proven to roster one of the best assortments of talent the league has to offer.
From possessing established All-Stars like Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. to budding stars like Desmond Bane and, arguably, GG Jackson Jr., Taylor Jenkins’ arsenal has grown to be quite deep over the past several years.
However, perhaps lost in the shadow of some of these aforementioned players is third-year big Santi Aldama, an individual who, thanks to his impressive size (7-feet, 215-pounds), floor-stretching skills, and positional switchability, has become a consistent fixture within Memphis’ main rotation.
Of course, even with his enviable 21.5 minutes per game average for his career, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report still believes the productivity of Aldama has been gravely overlooked, as he recently went as far as to label the 23-year-old one of the “most underrated” players currently in the association.
Grizzlies big Santi Aldama labeled one of ‘most underrated’ NBA players
Citing his shooting skills, where he “drilled 36.1 percent of his catch-and-shoot treys and hit 38.2 percent of his wide-open looks from downtown,” and his under-the-radar rim-protecting abilities displayed last season, Favale is of the impression that Aldama is an “understatedly versatile” tweener big, and is someone who deepens this Grizzlies rotation “as a higher-end luxury” contributor, adding:
“Memphis won’t typically use Aldama as its primary big, but he’s turned into a savvy help rim protector. Opponents last season shot 56.7 percent at the rim when challenged by him, a mark right in line with teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. (56.1 percent) and Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon (56.6 percent). That stinginess could wane if Aldama serves as the de facto 5, but that look is worth testing out in higher volume anyway.”
This past season, Aldama finished with several career-high averages, including points (10.7), rebounds (5.8), assists (2.3), and blocks (0.9) while simultaneously registering a positive defensive plus-minus rating along the way.
Unfortunately for him, however, Favale pointed out in his piece that the addition of “Zach Edey and having a healthy Brandon Clarke on deck could eat into some of Aldama’s minutes” this season which, to the seasoned writer, “would be a shame, because the 23-year-old is intriguing enough to take on more.”
Argued to be an untouchable commodity around last season’s trade deadline, the 2021 first-round selection boasts an incredibly versatile set of skills that not only benefits this Grizzlies squad but, frankly, would stand to benefit virtually any other team across the league in need of frontcourt depth.
Since Memphis snatched up Edey with the ninth overall selection in June’s draft, many have suggested that the front office should now be interested in adding a “third big” to their pool of talent to have to accompany the likes of him and Jackson Jr.
As a result of this sentiment, many names scattered across the league have been floated as being potential options to consider adding on to help flesh out the roster for this coming season, though, in Favale’s eyes, they already seem to have this type of player in tow with the likes of Aldama.
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