New Mavericks forward Santi Aldama won’t suit up for Spain in the World Cup qualifying games taking place later in August, the national team confirmed on Wednesday (Twitter link; hat tip to Eurohoops).

Aldama was listed on the Spanish team’s preliminary roster for upcoming games against Portugal (Aug. 28) and Greece (Aug. 31), but has since been removed from the squad.

Today’s announcement from Baloncesto España cited Aldama’s ongoing recovery from knee surgery as a primary reason for his absence. Back in March, when he was still a member of the Grizzlies, the 25-year-old underwent an arthroscopic procedure and received an orthobiologic injection to address discomfort in the trochlear compartment of his right knee.

That procedure didn’t dissuade the Mavericks from giving up three draft picks – two second-rounders and a heavily protected first-rounder – in an offseason trade that sent Aldama and EuroLeague standout Tarik Biberovic from Memphis to Dallas. And it sounds like Aldama’s new team remains confident that his regular season availability won’t be compromised by his recovery from the surgery.

According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), the belief in Dallas is that Aldama will be ready to go when training camp tips off next month. Dallas’ camp will open about a week early because the team is traveling to China for a pair of preseason games.

With Aldama unavailable, the Spanish national team will be headlined by Celtics forward Hugo Gonzalez, Thunder rookie Aday Mara, former NBA players Willy Hernangomez and Juancho Hernangomez, and Aldama’s new Mavs teammate Sergio de Larrea. Spain is well positioned to claim a spot in the 2027 World Cup, having compiled a 5-1 record in qualifiers so far.