Mavs Rookie Dereck Lively II Gives Inside Look Into His NBA Draft Rise

Dallas Mavericks rookie big man Dereck Lively II credits finishing his classes at Duke and a great Pro Day performance for his rapid rise up NBA Draft boards.

Earlier this year, and for most of the pre-NBA Draft process, Dallas Mavericks rookie big man Dereck Lively II was projected on many draft boards as being a late first-round pick. However, Lively picked up major momentum ahead of the draft and ended up being the No. 12 overall pick, acquired by the Mavs in a trade-back move from the No. 10 pick with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Lively is now getting some valuable NBA Summer League experience in Las Vegas — Dallas is 3-1 and has one more consolation game to play against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday — and on Thursday, he joined the Mavs Step Back Podcast to talk about that experience, as well as his rapid rising stock that led to him landing with the Mavs on draft night.

"Man, I'm doing amazing," Lively said when asked how it felt to get his Mavs feet wet with Summer League play. "Since I wasn't able to practice much with the team because of the trade, I've just been able to take advantage of this opportunity just to get introduced to the team, introduced to the sets, introduced to the pace. I'm just trying to adapt as fast as I can."

He has adapted well so far, as he’s averaging 8.0 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field in 23.6 minutes per game. He has also been a big paint presence for Dallas on defense. Lively points to finishing his classes at Duke as one reason why he was able to improve his standing ahead of draft night, as it allowed him to fully focus on basketball and nothing else.

"It really kinda started off when I came from Duke, and I finished my education at Duke – made sure I finished up all my classes,” Lively said.

“I realized that all I really had to do going forward was just work. So I was in Los Angeles, I was with Klutch [Sports], just being able to work with my trainer, Chris Johnson, and to just work out three times a day. So we were basically in a little boot camp for two ... almost three months before the lottery."

Although Lively had been improving every single day after he finished his classes at Duke, it wasn’t until after his Pro Day in late May when he really started seeing a shift in his draft standing.

"To be honest, Pro Day is when everything kinda shifted,” Lively said. “You know, there was always a lot of questions around me, around if I had a lot of intangibles, if I could do a lot of things or if I couldn't. I kinda answered a lot of those questions during the Pro Day. So after that point, moving forward, it was just going into each workout and tear up each workout [with NBA teams] that I had."

The Mavs were one of those team Lively worked out with ahead of the draft, and he impressed them with his high energy and ability to communicate. In fact, Dallas liked Lively so much that it would’ve selected him at No. 10 if the trade-down opportunity with OKC hadn’t materialized.

"I had six workouts with six different teams, and I just tried to be a monster in each workout,” Lively said. “No matter if that was just keeping the motor, having a lot of energy, talking a lot, being able to tear the rim off, shoot the ball – just being able to do whatever it takes and being able to do whatever they asked as well."

All of the things about Lively that impressed Mark Cuban, Nico Harrison and company before the draft have carried over into Summer League play. Standing at 7-1 with a 7-7 wingspan, Lively possesses elite physical tools to go along with his natural defensive instincts. He has been vocal on the court all throughout Summer League as well, which isn’t often seen out of 19-year-olds, and that’s helped him establish himself as the summer Mavs’ defensive anchor.

Dereck Lively II communicating at #NBA2KSummerLeague!

🏀 MAVERICKS/WARRIORS
⏰ 5:30 PM ET on NBA TV
➡️ https://t.co/pZkvKc3fgY pic.twitter.com/6fjuJG3HbS

— NBA (@NBA) July 12, 2023

Although Lively admits he still has a long way to go in his development, we wouldn’t be shocked if he’s the Mavs’ starting center sooner than than later if he keeps up his high-level work ethic and levelheaded approach heading into training camp in September.

"That's something that's circled on my board – to be a starter for the Mavs" Lively said. "That's something I'm definitely not at right now, but I'm scraping away, getting closer and closer each day. But I'm not there now, so that just means I've gotta keep working so I can get to it and get better."

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