Dallas Mavs' Dereck Lively II Shows Major Growth as Short Roll Scorer

Mavs rookie Dereck Lively II continues to progress in his impact early in his NBA career, with his impact on short rolls being a key example against the Thunder.

DALLAS — Throughout the Dallas Mavericks' season, one essential factor in their potential success remains the ongoing development of Dereck Lively II. The rookie big man continues to take strides in crucial parts of his game, gaining familiarity with the NBA game at 19.

In the Mavs' 126-120 loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, Lively put together a career-best performance against one of the most well-executing teams in the NBA in the initial phase of the season, providing 20 points, 16 rebounds, and seven blocks, while shooting a perfect 9-9 from the floor. 

There will be various defensive schemes Lively will encounter playing alongside Luka Doncic throughout an 82-game season. A common approach teams have deployed has been to use a wing as the primary defender on Lively for long stretches while having the big on Derrick Jones Jr. or the forward. The idea is to stifle the initial ball screening action involving Lively by switching and sending an early low-man. However, against teams that blitz to get the ball out of Doncic's hands, Lively steps into a supremely important role, receiving the pocket pass as a short roller. 

“Really just trying to be able to find openings," Lively said. "If they’re going to double Luka, just knowing if I’m going to be playing out the pocket or if I’m going to be playing out the flash game. So I’ve got to be able to know that sometimes the corner’s open, sometimes it’s me getting to the rim, or it’s just finding the open man.”

Lively entered the NBA with a knack for passing out of the short roll. Still, against the Thunder, he displayed a significant ability to be aggressive, looking to score in those situations. One of those sequences included a dunk against Chet Holmgren, who was rotating as the low man to protect the paint.

“Yea, at halftime, I told him, 'Don’t look to pass, go finish,'" Mavs coach Jason Kidd said of Lively. "I thought he did a great job with that because he is a willing passer, so that will make the game easier as it goes. If you can’t finish, he’s going to have wide open guy in either corner, so I thought he did a great job there in the second half.” 

Lively conveyed Kidd's message to him was to "not pass the f***ing ball," when he's playing out of the short roll and there's a window of opportunity for him to attack a favorable driving lane. The goal is to continue to establish him as a scoring threat in the middle of the floor to open up outside shooters, or make the defense pay inside.

"He told me not to pass the f***ing ball. His words. Sorry about that," Lively said of Kidd's message. "Just being able to just go in there and just have my coach's trust behind me just makes you just want to play more freely to try to grow my game, to try to expand."

Even against a dynamic shot blocker like Chet Holmgren making the low-man rotation, Lively was aggressive in putting the ball on the floor to attack the rim out of the short roll, ultimately putting the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft on a poster with an emphatic dunk. 

Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II against the Oklahoma City Thunder / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

While there may be extra motivation for Lively to go out and make a play against one of the top young bigs in the NBA, Luka Doncic conveyed the importance for Lively to continue to be aggressive even when there are smaller players on the floor that may have less bulletin board material. The rookie big man continued to make plays out of the short roll, getting to the rim as a release valve against a tough Thunder defense.

"That's exactly what I told him in the second quarter," Doncic said. "Just go dunk it. Like I said, 'You're trying to dunk it on Chet, but when there were small guys in low man, you're trying to pass it.' So I was like, 'Just go dunk it.'" 

Whether attacking out of the short roll or playing out of the flash, Lively has continued to make it a focus to develop his ability to make plays putting the ball on the floor. He told DallasBasketball.com about this priority before the team's preseason finale against the Detroit Pistons, and now, we're seeing the results. 

"Definitely being a more offensive driven, being able to work out of the flash, being able to give and goes, being able to keep it whenever I'm in DHOs (dribble handoffs)," Lively told DallasBasketball.com during the preseason. "We're just going to try to work on little things for every single day to try to refine my ball handling skills and be able to make sure I'm strong whenever I drive to the basket.

Mavs Dereck Lively II Puts Up Massive NBA History-Making Stats in Loss to Thunder

Lively will have played his 18th NBA game when the Mavs take on the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The level of progression he's displayed in such a short period has been fascinating to monitor. He's averaging 8.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks in 25.1 minutes per game while shooting 72.2 percent from the floor. Beyond the box score, there's a clear difference on both ends with his interior presence, something Dallas sorely lacked last season.