Mavs' Dereck Lively II Speaks on Adjusting to NBA, Playing with Luka Doncic & Kyrie Irving

Mavs rookie Dereck Lively II is already showing why he was a lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft through his impact in two games. Here's how he's still adjusting to the league.

DALLAS — After making his first NBA appearance, Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II set a new first: he earned his first NBA start. He's continued to show signs of impressive long-term potential while providing immediate on-court contributions, averaging 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 24.0 minutes per game through two performances.  

Lively is off to an impressive start as a finisher, shooting a league-best 91.7 percent from the floor in his first two performances. He sees the results as a culmination of continued work on his finishing touch, whether it's on hooks, dumpoffs, or finishing off lobs. He embraces the role of being the Mavs' dirty work specialist. 

"The work works just being able to know that I'm always going to be around the rim, always going to try to finish it. It doesn't matter if that's hooks, dumpoffs, dunks, or lobs. They're doing whatever it takes to do the dirty work to clean up everything."

While Lively has only played two regular-season NBA games so far, he doesn't feel anything has surprised him yet. The most significant areas to adjust to include the higher pace of the game. However, playing in an up-tempo spread pick-and-roll style is a great way for a vertical lob threat like him to thrive. 

"I wouldn't say anything surprised me," Lively said. "I feel like the league, the NBA has like a higher tempo, a higher speed when it comes to like the style of play. But you know, that's what I've been looking for. I feel like I would be able to fit that very well and try to build off that."

Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II on Media Day / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Lively's first NBA start featured him only playing in the first half, with the Mavs seeking to deploy more experienced options to handle the Brooklyn Nets' small ball personnel. It offered a greater opportunity for him to show how he can handle defensive positioning when attempting to guard in space, with the Nets deploying Ben Simmons and Dorian Finney-Smith as frequent options at the four and five. 

"Just got to be able to know that, if I'm switching on to a guard, I got to be able to know I'm defending with my feet, not my hands, and not try to reach out for a steal, Lively said. "I have to be able to know what type of defensive posture I have to take on the same time, being able to know when to help, when not to help, when the three-second calls being able to be in and out of the paint, and just being able to try to adapt to the game as quickly as possible."

The responsibilities required to maintain an impact as a rim protector as the anchor of the defense gets complicated when facing a half-court offense of spacing out completely. The Nets' small ball group put Lively in situations that required him to sometimes either handle guarding the ball in space or at least have to respect a shooting threat on the perimeter as an off-ball defender. 

Lively acknowledged that he's still working through getting comfortable with handling the nuances required of him when facing personnel capable of completely spacing out. The nuances come down to the importance of his defensive stance and the timing required to make a proper X-out on the perimeter to a shooter. 

"Well, usually I'm always low, just being able to know that I have my defender behind me who's in a dunker or running up to set a screen. But now my defender was all the way out in the wing. I'm in a different stance and positioning. It's harder for me to protect the room and get out to X-out of my man or X-out to the wing. So we're just going to be able just to take reps and repetition to be able to get it down."

More complications can be posed by a rival offense when trying to use shooting threats to neutralize a rim protector that Lively is well aware of having to solve for as he familiarizes himself with the NBA game. He knows there will be pick-and-pop and creative half-court actions to try to throw him off, requiring him to be as attentive as possible, and moving his feet and not fouling when guarding isolation threats after switching. 

"Just knowing I have to move my feet. It really comes down to just staying low, not getting caught standing up, and always have my head on a swivel," Lively said. "There's a lot of people who's going to pick-and-pop, they're going to try to go screen, and they're going to just to try to throw a lot of different actions at me because I'm new, but I always gotta stay on my toes and be able to be able to be ready to talk to my teammates and be able just to try to help my defenders out."

Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively and superstar Kyrie Irving / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Given the difficulties of adjusting to handling spread personnel as a young big man, the Mavs opted to deploy Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber in the second half of their 125-120 victory over the Brooklyn Nets instead of Lively. He learned from the example set by his veteran teammates, notably Powell. 

"Dwight is always poised," Lively said. "I feel like he did an amazing job, and you know, I was asking him after about a few things, such as being able to try to pick his brain."

While the opposition may go small at times to try to neutralize Lively's rim protection by having his man be a shooting threat positioned behind the perimeter, he understands he has an advantage when he's attacking offensively. He can take advantage of switching by slipping and getting out quickly, duck down low to seal off a small defender or get to the dunker spot if he doesn't get the ball and be ready to stay active when drives from teammates occur. 

"I feel like whenever teams go small, you're going to switch a lot more, so you'll be able to pick-and-slip whenever I'm setting picks," Lively said. "I got to slip out of them quicker, and there's going to be times where I'm going to duck down low, open up, and seal. But if they're not going to hit me, I have to head to the dunker and be able to be ready for either the offensive board or top off for a lot."

As Lively adjusts to the highest level of basketball, he continues to lean on former NBA player and Mavs assistant coach Tyson Chandler as a valuable resource. Chandler is actively providing feedback to Lively about what he's doing well but also not neglecting to point out his mistakes. 

"He's always praising me, but he's also making sure that he's on every mistake that I possibly can make," Lively said of Chandler. "He's always trying to teach me what's the proper positioning, what's the correct footwork, what's the right timing, and just being able to try to do the little key things. 

An example Lively provided of how Chandler has helped him with "little key things" was a mention of his off-ball within the flow of the offense. If one of his superstar teammates like Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving is going to get doubled, he is working on his timing flashing to the ball to make himself available for the pass. If it's in the post, he has to gain aggressive positioning on the boards. 

"If I see someone going to double one of the one of our main guards, I have to flash," Lively said. "But at the same time, if I see one of my guards posting up and he's about to shoot it, I got to get into position to box out earlier rather than seeing the shot go up and then box out — it's being able to just time reading the ball, the defender and then two other people. It's just something I'm just trying to be able to just expand on because that's going to make my job easier."

It's not just an adjustment to the NBA that Lively is making right now; he also continues to learn the intricacies of what his teammates like Doncic and Irving like to do when making plays. Lively is getting used to the faster tempo and pocket passes of Irving while making himself available on time within Doncic's methodical pace. 

"Kyrie's definitely going to hit me a lot more pocket passes, and Kyrie's game is a little quicker, but you just got to be able just to match Luka's tempo, which is kind of different," Lively said. "Luka is a slow player, but he's going to be able to get downhill and get to a position. I've got to be ready for the ball."

Doncic's miraculous bank shot to take a three-point lead over the Nets with under 30 seconds left to play proved to be a game-winning shot. Lively continues to be amazed by Doncic's capabilities but also acknowledges the need to be aware that he needs to focus on doing the dirty work to follow a miss if the next big shot doesn't fall.

"Luka Magic, it's definitely real," Lively said of Doncic. "We've seen a lot of crazy shots in practice, but that one probably takes the cake so far. You have to know that in the game situations, he's going to do his little magic, and you have to be able to either clean it up or cheer him on whenever he may be."

The Mavs return to action on Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum. Lively seeks to expand his impact as he acclimates to the NBA level through live reps.