Grizzlies ink Santi Aldama to three-year deal

Grizzlies ink Santi Aldama to three-year deal

Restricted free agent Santi Aldama has agreed to a three-year, $52.5 million deal, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania first reported Monday.

Restricted free agent Santi Aldama has agreed to a three-year, $52.5 million deal to return to the Memphis Grizzlies, sources tell ESPN. CAA’s Austin Brown, Steven Heumann and Max Sadiman finalized the deal with the Grizzlies for Aldama, who had a career year last season. pic.twitter.com/Pk7j1HjtXy

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2025

The Grizzlies still have work to do after renegotiating and extending Jaren Jackson Jr. for $240 million over five years, which can’t be done without cap space. Currently, they don’t have any unless they renounce rights to every one of their free agents (outside of Aldama).

This deal won’t become official until July 6, so the Grizzlies still have time to create space, whether it’s buying out players or trading smaller salaries.

Aldama bet on himself and had his best season as a pro in 2024-25, averaging 12.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game on 48.3 percent shooting, including 36.8 percent from 3-point range and 69.1 percent from the charity stripe.

The Grizzlies built themselves some flexibility by the Desmond Bane trade, and are taking huge advantage of it thus far. This is a good-not-great contract for the 7-foot forward, though he won’t take up more than 11 percent of the cap in any of the next three seasons, according to Spotrac. This will be moveable and give Memphis a salary filler figure it can use in trades in future seasons if they end up hunting for a big(ger) fish.

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At the very least, Aldama is a good frontcourt partner either alongside or behind both Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey. He can space, rebound, is a better passer than he’s given credit for and had showed chops defensively. That’s not nothing, even if he becomes the Grizzlies’ fourth-highest paid player next season.

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This is a breaking news story. Stay tuned for updates.

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