(11-25-2025, 11:34 AM)Dirknows Wrote: Luka is gonna cook AD if he comes back for that game. I don’t see him playing.

(11-25-2025, 12:46 PM)Smitty Wrote: @TheSteinLine
More from Dallas: It is feared that the Mavs face an extended injury absence for Dereck Lively II, @TheSteinLine has learned.

Held out Monday in Miami for right foot injury management, Lively has played in seven of 19 games after offseason foot surgery and a recent knee issue.

(11-25-2025, 12:50 PM)F Gump Wrote: Where are the naysayers who have been saying Lively is NOT injury prone? Come out, come out, wherever you are!

(11-25-2025, 12:50 PM)F Gump Wrote: Where are the naysayers who have been saying Lively is NOT injury prone? Come out, come out, wherever you are!

(11-25-2025, 12:57 PM)cow Wrote: I think it's just hopium on their part.  He's a great player, but I'm not sure how you plan around or invest in someone that will most likely only be available for half of your games.

(11-25-2025, 01:01 PM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: I don't consider Lively a great player. What has he shown when he can't stay healthy?

(11-25-2025, 12:46 PM)Smitty Wrote: @TheSteinLine
More from Dallas: It is feared that the Mavs face an extended injury absence for Dereck Lively II, @TheSteinLine has learned.

Held out Monday in Miami for right foot injury management, Lively has played in seven of 19 games after offseason foot surgery and a recent knee issue.

(11-25-2025, 01:53 PM)Mavs2021 Wrote: Let´s not forget that we have a shitty medical stuff. Let´s also not forget his mother died, too. Facts are he has by far the best On/Off this year. Team is 3-4 with him, 2-10 without him. He´s a difference maker the same way Tyson Chandler was. I actually view it as a positive that his injury struggles might help us get a bargain deal on his extension, like when Steph had all the ankle problems at the start of his career.

Maybe the GM search takes longer, cause they first need to hire a new medical staff.

(11-25-2025, 01:01 PM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: I don't consider Lively a great player. What has he shown when he can't stay healthy?

(11-25-2025, 04:08 PM)michaeltex Wrote: TC had a lot of lower leg injuries back when he was with NO. Even cancelled a trade with OKC when he couldn't pass their physical.

Bill Walton also had foot/leg problems off and on.

Seems like Lively missed time at Duke for an injury early in the season then played the rest of the way.

Final thought...could this be part of the stealth tank plan? Keep his minutes controlled, be ultra-conservative with any aches and pains and get him past the foot issues and robustly healthy for the next season. When there may be Flagg + a shiny new lottery pick to build around.

I hate looking at (another) losing season, but it may be the best way to go.

(11-25-2025, 04:08 PM)michaeltex Wrote: I hate looking at (another) losing season, but it may be the best way to go.

(11-25-2025, 04:25 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I don't think it's part of a stealth tank plan, but I do think this bad run of injuries he has been on, going back to last year, might be the result of some misguided effort by a bad medical staff to help make the on court product as competitive as possible. There's not much point to pushing that agenda anymore, so if there's anything to that speculation, I suppose you could call it a stealth tank in a sense. Either way, what I hope, personally, is that they're taking a step back in order to actually fix whatever problems he's experiencing chronically (hopefully, this is possible). Sit him as long as it takes to give him a chance to prove he can stay healthy. No more risks of any kind (this year, at least). 

All I know is that without Lively, any hope for the next few seasons flies right out the window, so I hope they can get his health under control.

(11-25-2025, 05:40 PM)mvossman Wrote: Hard to know how much was the medical staff and how much was Nico.  Apparently he was going to push AD onto the court right before he got fired against the recommendation of his medical staff.  I wonder how much that was going on late last season.

(11-25-2025, 04:25 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I don't think it's part of a stealth tank plan, but I do think this bad run of injuries he has been on, going back to last year, might be the result of some misguided effort by a bad medical staff to help make the on court product as competitive as possible. There's not much point to pushing that agenda anymore, so if there's anything to that speculation, I suppose you could call it a stealth tank in a sense. Either way, what I hope, personally, is that they're taking a step back in order to actually fix whatever problems he's experiencing chronically (hopefully, this is possible). Sit him as long as it takes to give him a chance to prove he can stay healthy. No more risks of any kind (this year, at least). 

All I know is that without Lively, any hope for the next few seasons flies right out the window, so I hope they can get his health under control.

(11-25-2025, 06:10 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Same thing, to my mind. He fired Casey Smith and hired a team he thought was "better." There was a reference to them being more like "cheer leaders" in one article I read. I think he hired medical people he thought would be loyal to him and his agenda. 

Total speculation (and the worst kind, I admit) but I can't shake the feeling that the medical staff is just awful. I think you can explain last year's injury situation (that seems to be carrying over into this year) in a lot of ways, and injury-prone players is part of the conversation, sure, but...Idk, I just don't trust that the health of the players is in good hands right now. I hope they make some (public) moves when they hire the new GM that restores fan faith in that part of the organization.