Be honest wth me: do you remember Dereck Lively II playing a single game? I don’t. Or I didn’t. Not until I started looking way back into the season. In my memory, Lively played several games into January 2025, hurt his ankle/foot, and we haven’t seen him since. That, of course, is not true. He returned for a few games at the end of last season, played a few games to start this season, then shut it down and sought out medical opinions for another surgery.
Thus goes the story of Lively’s career today.
Some bright, bright flashes, marred by deserts of missed games. In fact, through three NBA seasons, Lively has yet to play 100 regular-season games.
Season in Review
“It’s all about health for Dereck Lively II heading into his third NBA season.” That was the opening line of Matt Martinez’s Dereck Lively’s season preview way back in October.
In some respects Lively’s season was over before it began; he played just 10 minutes in the opening game against the San Antonio Spurs, where Dallas was run off the floor in the opening half. Lively would play the next two games, helping notch the first Dallas win over Toronto. He popped up on the injury report after, didn’t travel to Mexico City for the following game and wouldn’t play again until November 14th. Including that contest, he played just four more games all season, a total of seven for the 2025-26 season. He’d be shut down soon after to seek additional opinions on his previously injured foot/ankle, got surgery in December, and has just recently been seen without his walking boot.
In seven games, he averaged 4.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in just over 16 minutes a game.
Best game
Given minimal options, Lively’s best game was the wild and foreboding loss to the Washington Wizards in game two. He was one of the team’s few bright spots in his limited minutes, scoring eight on 4 of 5 from the floor, grabbing six rebounds, stealing the ball twice, and notching a block.
Contract status
Lively is entering the final year of his rookie contract, where he will make just over $7.2 million. He is eligible for a contract extension, but given his injury issues the Mavericks have likely only engaged in surface-level discussions.
Looking ahead
There is a lengthy and frustrating history of promising big men seeing their careers derailed by lower body injuries. Feet, in particular, are troublesome. What Dereck Lively is attempting to come back from is as much the weight of history as well as his own body on a troublesome foot. The Mavericks drafted Lively as their big man of the future and that future far too cloudy at present moment.
In short, what Dallas needs first is to see Lively play 60 games in the 2026-27 season. He’ll have both his games and minutes within games managed tightly, but at a certain point medical science can only do so much. He has to stay healthy first, and from that, we can then consider his effectiveness.
Outside of the run from All Star break to the NBA Finals in 2024, Lively has shown very little consistency. He fouls too much on the defensive end and hasn’t played enough without Luka Doncic on the offensive end to show what he’s capable of. The talent is there, of that there’s no doubt. But I believe the key development years for players come largely between 16 and 22 years old. Lively has now missed a huge chunk of that time due to injury.
This coming year is pivotal in what comes next for Lively.
Grade: F
Incomplete would probably be more fair here, but it’s a cruel world. Lively missed well over two seasons of his career to date due to a variety of reasons. This was an important year for Lively and he wasn’t able to perform. Hopefully, next year is a massive change.
