The Memphis Grizzlies went through all the hassle of trading to move up in the draft in order to make a couple of high-profile picks and they’re rewarded with… a wait? That’s right, due to the NBA’s genius (not really) rules, the Grizzlies’ drafted rookies aren’t officially with the team until today, August 6th.
This is the reason why you’ve seen free agent signings like Yves Pons and Romeo Weems on the court thus far in Summer League with no sign of Ziaire Williams and Santi Aldama.
Aldama and Williams were both involved in the trade with the Pelicans — a trade that didn’t technically go through until today. I’d like to sit here and explain to you that this is a great rule but at the end of the day, it’s not. It’s a terrible loophole, especially when you see these players greeting the media, likely working out with the team, and doing virtually everything that a player on a certain team would do.
Holding them out of a couple of Summer League games is completely redundant. Thankfully, both will be on the court on Thursday, August 6th (the day of this post).
Memphis Grizzlies fans will get a long-awaited look at their new rookies
The excitement behind Ziaire Williams may not be the same as it was for Ja Morant or Jaren Jackson Jr. in the past few years, but fans are still eager to see their first-round pick in action this summer.
Williams is a high-risk, high-reward kind of guy who may not settle in at the NBA level immediately. Even in college, it took Williams time to settle in, with his shot never getting back to where it was in high school. Even so, Williams was an exciting player at Stanford, recording the school’s first triple-double since 2007.
But Williams isn’t even the player that most fans will have their sights set on. In fact, it’s easy to find a handful of the rookie wing’s highlights anywhere online. The player that Grizzlies fans will be more interested in watching is Santi Aldama.
Aldama was a completely unexpected pick for the Grizzlies at the 30th spot. Most fans probably had only heard his name a couple of times before it was called on stage for the Grizzlies in the 2021 NBA Draft. That said, Aldama is a young, exciting player.
Unless you’re a Loyola (Maryland) fan, you’ll be seeing Aldama live for the first time. The big man spaces the floor as much as anybody on the team. Despite this, he still has the ball skills to get down low. He’s very much like Jaren Jackson Jr. in that way, among others, including the fact that he does need to add significant mass in the upcoming seasons.
Having a Spanish big man on the roster is reminiscent of a couple of Grizzlies legends in Pau and Marc Gasol, both of whom are among the greatest Memphis basketball players of all time. Hopefully, Aldama can become as good of a player as those guys were.