‘Getting Very Close’: Santi Aldama, Caleb Martin, Dereck Lively II, And Tarik Biberović Out For Dallas Mavericks’ Opener At Houston Rockets

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks have listed Santi Aldama, Tarik Biberović, Dereck Lively II, and Caleb Martin as out for Wednesday’s season opener against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.

Martin is out with a right thumb sprain, and Biberović is out with right heel bursitis. Aldama is out following right knee surgery, and Lively is out following right foot surgery.

After Tuesday’s practice, Martin did sprints with a trainer, Dallas Sports Journal observed. Mavericks coach Dusty May gave a practice update that covered Aldama, Biberović, and Max Christie, and it did not include Martin.

Aldama was a partial participant Tuesday, and Biberović did not practice. May assumes Biberović will be out against Houston, and he does not expect Aldama to be ready either.

“Max practiced today, full go,” May said. “… And I don’t think Santi will be ready, but he’s getting very close.”

Christie rested in Friday’s 135-111 preseason loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Jett Howard missed the same game with an illness, and he is not on the report. Neither is Marcus Sasser, who sat out Dallas’ first three exhibitions with a left adductor injury. Rookie Morez Johnson Jr., the ninth overall pick in June, missed two games with right shin splints before returning against Atlanta.

Caleb Martin Lands On Report With Right Thumb Sprain As Santi Aldama Stays Out

Martin was not among the five players Dallas held out against the Hawks on Friday. The report does not say when he hurt the thumb.

An illness kept Martin out of the Oct. 9 preseason opener against Houston in Macao, China. Two days later, he made his preseason debut in Dallas’ 132-115 win over the Rockets, the Mavericks’ only victory in a 1-3 exhibition schedule.

Last season, his first full one in Dallas, Martin averaged 3.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 14.8 minutes across 58 games, including 12 starts. A right plantar fascia strain kept him out over the final weeks of the regular season. The Mavericks acquired him from the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2025.

Aldama sat out all four preseason games. On March 17, while still with the Memphis Grizzlies, he had an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. The procedure included an orthobiologic injection and ended his 2025-26 season.

Last Thursday, May said Aldama was getting “much, much closer,” though he did not expect him to play in the preseason finale. On Sunday, May was not ready to say whether the forward would be available in Houston. Tuesday’s partial practice was the next step.

In August, Aldama and the Spanish federation decided he would skip Spain’s FIBA World Cup 2027 qualifiers instead of rushing the knee. When training camp opened in late September, the medical staff was setting his workload day by day, and Aldama said he was feeling better each day.

“I’m working on it. It’s been a long summer in that sense,” Aldama said. “I’m working every day and feeling better every day, so I’m excited to get back out there.”

Dallas acquired Aldama in a six-team trade on July 8. In 43 games for Memphis last season, he averaged career highs of 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. He shot 35.0% from 3-point range.

Dereck Lively II, Tarik Biberović Out As Dusty May Prepares For Houston Rockets

Lively has not played since Nov. 21, 2025, against the New Orleans Pelicans. Dallas announced Dec. 10 that he would have season-ending surgery on his right foot. Dr. James Calder performed the procedure at the Fortius Clinic in London. In July 2025, Lively had surgery to remove bone spurs from the same foot.

Lively sat out all four preseason games and has not been medically cleared. On Oct. 9, Mavericks president Masai Ujiri said Lively had progressed to shooting and was working toward running on the court.

Two days later, before the second game in Macao, May said the staff sees Lively getting treatment and doing work on the court regularly.

“I’ll defer to the medical staff on that. I know this, he’s moving well,” May explained. “We see him regularly getting treatment, doing things on the court. There’s just a return to play protocol that everyone goes through. It’s a little bit unique, but he’s in good spirits.”

“He’s working every day, and whenever he’s back, he’s going to have a major impact on this team,” May continued.

The 5 p.m. CT deadline for rookie-scale extensions passed Monday without a deal for Lively. He will earn $7,239,131 in the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. Dallas can make him a restricted free agent next summer by extending a qualifying offer.

Over three seasons, Lively has appeared in 98 of a possible 246 regular-season games. He has averaged 8.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists and shot 72.5% from the field.

With Lively and Aldama out, May started Johnson at center in the Oct. 9 preseason opener. Daniel Gafford started Friday against Atlanta with Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg, Zaccharie Risacher, and P.J. Washington.

Biberović sat out the finale with the heel bursitis after appearing off the bench in the Oct. 11 win in Macao. Memphis took him 56th overall in 2023. He stayed at Fenerbahçe, the Turkish club where he played eight seasons and won a EuroLeague title in 2025.

In 41 EuroLeague games last season, Biberović shot 52.4% from the field, 41.9% from 3-point range, and 95.2% at the free-throw line. Dallas acquired his draft rights in the July 8 trade that also brought Aldama and Sasser. He signed a multi-year contract with the Mavericks on July 10.

After Friday’s loss to Atlanta, May named relieving pressure on Flagg and Irving as one of three areas Dallas had to clean up before Houston. On Tuesday, he wanted the Mavericks getting into their actions quicker and securing a clean catch to start the offense.

“Just as a cumulative effort to figure out ways to alleviate and relieve pressure. It’s not just on one guy,” May said. “It’s a matter of can we get into our actions quicker? Can we get a clean catch to start our offense?”

“And so it’s not obviously the guy under duress has to do a lot of the heavy lifting, but if we can get it out quick and we can advance the ball off the pass, then we can find our actions a lot quicker and a lot more efficient,” May noted.

Practice time has been split between Dallas’ own errors and the Rockets’ scouting report.

“I don’t want to give too much of the scouting report away, but it’s more still a focus on us and correcting errors that the four games have taught us about ourselves, and we’ve made progress,” May said. “Last week was about 90 to 95% us, about 5% the opponent. Now it’s probably 15, 20% opponent and 80, 85% us.”

“But the message is we have to start building on a foundation of what we’re learning each and every night about ourselves,” May added.

Tip-off Wednesday is set for 7:30 p.m. CT. The Mavericks play at the Indiana Pacers on Friday, then host the San Antonio Spurs in their home opener Saturday at 7 p.m. CT at American Airlines Center.