Dereck Lively II's Unmatched Hard Work Paying Dividends for Luka Doncic, Mavs

Rookie big man Dereck Lively II has been a godsend for the Dallas Mavericks this season, and his relentless, daily hard work continues to pay off for him with each passing game.

DALLAS – For years – through both the twilight of Dirk Nowitzki's career and the first five seasons of the Luka Doncic era – the Dallas Mavericks tried to find a center to replicate the impact Tyson Chandler brought in the 2010-11 and 2014-15 seasons. Finally, they have found their man in 19-year-old rookie Dereck Lively II, who was the No. 12 pick in June's NBA Draft.

To say Lively, who is actively being mentored by Chandler, has been a godsend for the Mavs would be a massive understatement. The young big man has a direct correlation to Dallas' success despite only having 24 games under his belt. The Mavs are 1-5 in games Lively has missed this season, and they're 4-1 in games where he posts a double-double.

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His latest effort was a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double in the Mavs' 128-114 Christmas Day win over Kevin Durant and Devin Booker's Phoenix Suns. Sure, Doncic's 50-point, 15-assist night stole the headlines, but Lively's return from a four-game absence due to an ankle injury played a huge role in Dallas being able to pull out the road win.

"Thankful for the work, my teammates, my coaches," Lively said. "The work works. Being in the gym twice a day, every day, watching film every day, working on your body, your mind, your timing, it all stacks up. Whenever you stack the days, it makes everything fall into place."

Despite the Mavs having to deal with several key injuries in the first half of this season, they've managed to navigate through it with an 18-12 record after 30 games. It's the first time in Dallas' Jason Kidd coaching era that the team isn't .500 at the 30-game mark.

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“I think we’re an amazing team," Lively said. "I feel like we have a lot of trust in each other. It seems like a lot of emotions and energy are going higher and higher and higher. That just makes us go together.”

Lively is just scratching the surface of what he could become, but he's already an outstanding fit as Doncic's starting center, and that will only continue to grow as the season progresses. If the Mavs can make it to the postseason with a relatively healthy roster, they'll be poised to make a lot more noise than many people expected them to.