Inside Dallas Mavs' Development of Dereck Lively II as Defensive Anchor

The Mavs remain focused on the ongoing development of rookie Dereck Lively II to become the team's next defensive anchor. Here's how the process has looked.

DALLAS — It's not easy to adjust to the responsibilities of being an impactful NBA rim protector. For many rookie big men, it takes a few years to become a net-positive contributor in such a role. The Dallas Mavericks are optimistic that Dereck Lively II can buck that trend by having an immediate impact. 

Since being selected with the No. 12 overall pick, Lively has spent many hours at the Mavs training facility working with the coaching staff — including former defensive standout Tyson Chandler — to accelerate the learning process in order to step into a meaningful role on Day 1. The Mavs consider him as having taken a leap before training began and he's continued to impress. 

A team led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving with shooters to space the floor has all of the necessary firepower to compete offensively. After finishing 25th in defensive rating and 30th in total rebounding percentage last season, it's apparent the faster the team can find a defensive anchor to set the tone in both areas, the greater the success they manage to achieve overall. The team's focus to achieve this goal is to develop Lively. 

Right now, Lively is focused on fine-tuning his understanding of the Mavs' pick-and-roll coverages. At 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-7 wingspan and agility in his favor, he provides intriguing attributes to be a versatile option playing a variety of different ball screen coverages. He can stay in a drop in order to focus on anchoring the paint, or he can play up to the level of the screen to use his length. He continues to work on Veer switching and ICE coverage to add more layers to the Mavs' defense. 

“You just got to focus on just doing one thing every day," Lively said. "Try to get better at one thing. Today, we’re just trying to improve at staying in front of and mainly working on pick-and-roll coverages. [I’m] just making sure I’m in the right way, making sure I’m playing both and not letting the roller behind.”

In his limited NBA playing experience, Lively faced tough matchups with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, then dealt with a different style of play against Real Madrid. It was a quick crash course on professional basketball's physicality and skillful tactics for the 19-year-old. Lively showed improvement game-by-game, before having more practice time to apply what he watched on film after those performances. 

On Friday, Lively faced a variety of talented bigs against the Detroit Pistons in Jalen Duren, James Wiseman, and Marvin Bagley III, proving he can hold his own against them. The Mavs had little issue establishing control, with Lively's presence as a paint protector and rebounder being a helpful factor. 

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

On Monday, during the portion of practice open to the media, the Mavs worked on ICE coverage and Veer switching. The concept behind ICE coverage requires the guard to prevent the ball handler from dribbling off the screen, often by the defender having their back to the sideline. The goal is to have the guard reject the screen and have the big defender in a position to contain both the roller and the ball handler.

In these situations, not allowing the rim roller to get behind is vital to the success of the play and allows the rest of the unit to stay tighter on shooters. There is the option for the big defender to call for a switch near the Veer line if there is a sense that taking the guard is required to contain the play, forcing the guard to recover to the roller.

When handling Veer switching, Lively remains focused on finding the right balance between making plays with his length in space with staying on his feet and prioritizing containing a drive. He still has to get acclimated to handling NBA personnel and experiencing the capabilities of each talent in order to make ideal judgement calls. 

"I definitely just have to continue learning when not to bite, when to Veer switch, when not to Veer, when to be up on shooters, when not to be up on shooters, and just being able to know that each player is different, so I have to guard them a different way," Lively told DallasBasketball.com "There's no set robotic way to do things. I have to figure out a way to cover everybody in each game."

On Tuesday, Lively was among a group that worked on a post defense station. A focus of the coaching staff's instructions was on cleaning up establishing a quality center of gravity without fouling by staying vertical on the contest. As Lively faces the need to add lower body strength early in his career, he has to be especially precise in his technique in order to minimize the disadvantage he faces against stronger matchups.

"Definitely just being able to focus on which player's shoulder they're going to go over and knowing that everyone's going to be stronger than you," Lively told DallasBaskeball.com. "I have to figure out my own ways of being able to hold my own, being able to make sure I'm in the right positioning between ball and me, basket, and make sure, you know, I'm doing the best I can."

As Lively continues to gain a more nuanced understanding of executing NBA schemes and defensive coverages, he has continued to be a vocal member of the defense, which tends to be essential for a defensive anchor. It's a responsibility that he's continued to embrace and the team appreciates, creating a sense of major potential when everything clicks and is comfortable for him. 

"You see the influence that Tyson has, being able to talk as a rookie," Kidd said of Lively. "His voice, being the anchor of that group, whether it's the first group or second group, he's done a really good job. The next step is just the positioning of what he's saying. Once that matches, then he's going to be in a really good spot."

It remains to be seen the specifics behind Lively's role to begin his rookie season. He did end the preseason as a starter in all four of the team's games, but spent time this past week running with the second unit. The Mavs have yet to confirm any starters beyond Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and Grant Williams.