Dallas Basketball

Mavs Rookie Dereck Lively II Impresses in Summer League Debut: 'He's Going to Be Great'

First impressions are important, and Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II made a good one in his NBA Summer League debut in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Dalton Trigg

In this story:

It has been a long time since the Dallas Mavericks have had a true defensive anchor at the center position. The last two times it happened, NBA champion and Mavs fan-favorite Tyson Chandler had the reigns in the 2010-11 season, the year Dallas won it all, and in the 2014-15 season.

Although it's early, it seems as if the Mavs have finally found their next version of Chandler in Dereck Lively II, who officially signed his rookie contract with Dallas in his Las Vegas hotel on Saturday night. Perhaps that's a bold conclusion to come to after merely one Summer League game, but Lively passed the eye test with flying colors when it comes to his defensive potential.

After trading down to the No. 12 pick to acquire Lively on draft night, the Mavs immediately started making the comparisons due to Lively's size, length and natural defensive instincts. In Lively's Summer League debut in Las Vegas on Saturday, it didn't take the young big man long to show fans why those comparisons are accurate.

As Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace, who was traded for Lively on draft night, drove past Mavs two-way player A.J. Lawson, Lively came over from the opposite side of the court to block his layup attempt while showing off that impressive 7-7 wingspan.

“He’s a great communicator. I thought his athletic ability was great to see. He was getting fouled a lot," Mavs assistant coach and Summer League head coach Jared Dudley said of Lively's performance.

Due to the draft night trades not being finalized until Thursday, Lively and O-Max Prosper hadn't been able to practice with the team, which resulted in limited playing time in the Mavs' 91-80 loss to the Thunder. Lively finished with four points and five rebounds in just 16 minutes, but the stats don't truly measure the impact he had on the defensive end of the court.

“I think Lively is going to be great. He is a long big man that can jump, get rebounds, play defense," Lawson said of Lively's debut performance. "He talks. That’s one thing that I realized a lot. He talks a lot on the defensive end and it helps me and the other guys get through the screens and know how to rotate.”

Although Lively is still a work in progress on offense, playing with two of the best screen-users in the league in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving should help maximize his potential on that end. But defensively, Lively is already sound, and that's what will keep him as a constant in coach Jason Kidd's rotation next season, whether he's a starter or not.

Follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter. SUBSCRIBE to Mavs Step Back on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here. Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.

Published
Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

Home/News