Dereck Lively II has been terrific for the Dallas Mavericks when he’s been on the court since they drafted him 10th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft. The only real issue for the former Duke standout is availability, as he’s played in just 91 games across the last two seasons.
Lively missed more than half of the 2024-25 season due to a foot injury and while he returned for four games late in the year, it was mostly a lost sophomore season. Marc Stein and Shams Charania reported Tuesday that, despite hoping the bone spurs which bothered him all year would clear up on their own, the 21-year-old big man underwent surgery on his right foot to clear those up. The good news for the Mavs and Lively is the expectation is for him to be back to full strength by training camp, but he will miss some valuable time in the offseason to work on his game.
The Mavericks have lofty expectations for the 2025-26 season, provided they can get all their top guys on the floor healthy. The problem is, health is a major question mark for three of their best players. Kyrie Irving rehabbing from a torn ACL and is likely out for the first half of the season, Anthony Davis has surgery earlier this summer to repair a detached retina in his eye and now Lively will be spending time in a walking boot after surgery on his foot.
Given Dallas’ injury woes, it’s hard to blame them for pulling the plug on Cooper Flagg’s summer league campaign after two games, as he showed all he needed to and doesn’t need to add any unnecessary risk for a couple more exhibitions in Las Vegas. Hopefully Lively will indeed be a full go once camp begins and the surgery prevents any future issues from bone spurs in his foot, and Davis and Irving will stay on schedule for their own on court returns.
The Mavericks have the potential to be a threat in the West and could be one of the most fascinating teams in the league, but they’ll need injury luck to turn in their favor for once after a disastrous 2024-25 campaign.
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