The two new Spanish Mavericks, rookie Sergio De Larrea and recently traded from the Memphis Grizzlies, stretch-big Santi Aldama, may not need a lot of minutes together before making a real impact for the Dallas Mavericks this season.
They already played a lot of minutes together during FIBA EuroBasket 2025, and during the preparation stage before the tournament.
Despite a disappointing result for the reigning champions, not making it out of the group stage, the Spanish duo both did their bit to advance,
topping the board for their country.
Santi Aldama led Spain in both points and rebounds during the tournament with an average of 14 points and 6.6 rebounds. Sergio De Larrea, 19 at the time, led the team in assists with 4.4 per game. The pair were the only players to play more than 20 minutes a game for Spain, giving us a good glimpse of what the duo may look like from day one.
Santi Aldama played a great tournament, and the seven-footer continued to show that he can shoot the ball from beyond the arc, a very valuable trait for the Mavs, who need any spacing they can get.
In this highlight reel, we get a few glimpses of De Larrea, as well, showing off a little playmaking and shooting.
But valuable minutes on the floor together is not the only thing that’s notable here.
As opposed to a lot of players making the leap to the best league in the world, Sergio De Larrea is in an exceptionally good position to perform up to his best. As fellow Spaniard, Santi Aldama, is joining forces with him in Dallas, he has a veteran NBA player on his team, who speaks his language. In more ways than one.
Aldama is only 25, but he went to college in the US, and therefore has years of experience maneuvering the very different culture, values and language. Whether Aldama was brought to Dallas to help De Larrea acclimatize, or just to be a much needed spacing option (or maybe a little of both), he will make De Larrea’s transition into the NBA much easier.
When you are new to a country, where people speak a different language and just starting a new job, you really need some help. You don’t know how to get a bank account, how to go places, which food to eat (what are all these fastfood places? I constantly wondered during my first week in the US), where do you eat? There are so many options and different ways of doing things, no matter where you go. Basically, you don’t understand how anything works.
I’m speaking from very personal experience here. I have lived in two other countries apart from my own, and in both places I spoke the local language fluently. And I still struggled to figure out all the small stuff.
Now, I’m not saying that Sergio De Larrea doesn’t speak English, but learning how everything works in a different language can be grueling. Exhausting. Imagine yourself moving to Germany. Or Japan.
On top of that, Sergio De Larrea is only 20 years old and his life is about to change. He knows the language of basketball, of course, but there’s a lot of terminology that’s different in English. And then again, there’s maneuvering life around basketball.
All players deserve to have the best introduction possible to their new home and career. American players going to Europe often talk about their struggles settling and finding their way in Europe, when guidance isn’t offered. A player liaison should be offered to new players having to settle in new countries and new environments. It would improve performance right away. And isn’t that the whole point?
The Dallas Mavericks set Sergio De Larrea up for success with the acquisition of Santi Aldama. Both on and off the floor, the chances for optimizing performance have been raised by this move. No matter how the next season transpires, we can be sure that De Larrea, and perhaps Aldama, as well, are in the best situation possible.
As the NBA becomes more and more international, other teams can learn a lot from this approach. Whether intentional or not (I believe it is), it should inspire teams and clubs in both Europe and the US. After all, if we want the best out of our athletes, we need to make sure they have what they need to succeed.
