10-18-2023, 10:19 AM
Nice Lively thoughts from Demario’s in his latest article
One thing was certain going into the offseason—Dallas had to get some better options in the middle alongside the returning Dwight Powell. Christian Wood was not brought back, and JaVale McGee, last year’s mid-level exception signing, was waived. Replacing them are 12th overall pick Dereck Lively II and Richaun Holmes, who was brought in via a draft-night trade. That didn’t stop the Mavs from spending the summer on the hunt for a front-line starter to bring in via trade, a pursuit that proved fruitless when deals for Clint Capela and DeAndre Ayton couldn’t be hashed out.
But as August turned to September, the Mavs’ braintrust started seeing rapid growth and development from Lively, who was in the gym every day. During Summer League, the prevailing wisdom was that fellow rookie Olivier Maxence-Prosper was going to have more of an immediate impact and that it would take time for Lively to make his case. But sources tell me Lively has changed that calculus. His basketball IQ is off the charts, and having watched all of the full training camp practices before the team left for their international trip, I didn’t see him make any mental or schematic errors. He has learned the contours of what his defensive assignments are, he protects the rim, and he can switch on smaller defenders and recover.
Offensively, he has clicked with Luka Doncic immediately. Doncic loves playing the vertical game, pick-and-rolling a defense to death with an athletic, rolling big. He has yet to line up alongside a starting-caliber player in that vein in Dallas. He will now. Lively is learning daily what moves Doncic makes when, and more importantly, never to give up on a play, as Doncic can find you at any time.
Add it up, and Lively will most likely start once the regular season commences. There will be growing pains as he deals with foul trouble. At Duke, he had 92 fouls in 34 games (in only 20 minutes per contest). Already, in his 58 minutes of playing time in the first three preseason games, he has 12 fouls. But that will course correct as the game slows down for him, and seeing him constantly around Tyson Chandler should make everyone feel good inside.
As one Mavs source told me, “We may have found our center.”
One thing was certain going into the offseason—Dallas had to get some better options in the middle alongside the returning Dwight Powell. Christian Wood was not brought back, and JaVale McGee, last year’s mid-level exception signing, was waived. Replacing them are 12th overall pick Dereck Lively II and Richaun Holmes, who was brought in via a draft-night trade. That didn’t stop the Mavs from spending the summer on the hunt for a front-line starter to bring in via trade, a pursuit that proved fruitless when deals for Clint Capela and DeAndre Ayton couldn’t be hashed out.
But as August turned to September, the Mavs’ braintrust started seeing rapid growth and development from Lively, who was in the gym every day. During Summer League, the prevailing wisdom was that fellow rookie Olivier Maxence-Prosper was going to have more of an immediate impact and that it would take time for Lively to make his case. But sources tell me Lively has changed that calculus. His basketball IQ is off the charts, and having watched all of the full training camp practices before the team left for their international trip, I didn’t see him make any mental or schematic errors. He has learned the contours of what his defensive assignments are, he protects the rim, and he can switch on smaller defenders and recover.
Offensively, he has clicked with Luka Doncic immediately. Doncic loves playing the vertical game, pick-and-rolling a defense to death with an athletic, rolling big. He has yet to line up alongside a starting-caliber player in that vein in Dallas. He will now. Lively is learning daily what moves Doncic makes when, and more importantly, never to give up on a play, as Doncic can find you at any time.
Add it up, and Lively will most likely start once the regular season commences. There will be growing pains as he deals with foul trouble. At Duke, he had 92 fouls in 34 games (in only 20 minutes per contest). Already, in his 58 minutes of playing time in the first three preseason games, he has 12 fouls. But that will course correct as the game slows down for him, and seeing him constantly around Tyson Chandler should make everyone feel good inside.
As one Mavs source told me, “We may have found our center.”