NBA Rookie Rankings: Dallas Mavs' Dereck Lively II Top 5 Behind Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren
The Dallas Mavericks drafted Duke center Dereck Lively II with the No. 12 pick in the 2023 NBA draft with hopes of providing Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving with their rim-running, defensive-anchor big man of the future ... and boy, has he delivered thus far.
Simply put, Lively has been that and then some so far this season for the Mavs. Through 17 games, he is averaging 8.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.5 blocks while shooting 72.2 percent from the field in 25 minutes per game.
In Yahoo! Sports' NBA rookie rankings posted on Monday, the Mavs center found himself supplanted in the No. 5 spot, just as he was in the first rendition of the list.
Mavs' Dereck Lively II rises over Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the layup.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The most notable change for these rankings is that Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren took over the top spot over Spurs' Victor Wembanyama, who was drafted with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft and was seen as the runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year.
Coincidentally, in his first matchups against Holmgren and Wembanyama so far this season, Lively has had the more impressive showings, including finishing with 20 points, 16 rebounds, and six blocks in Dallas' 126-120 loss to Holmgren and Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Outside of the top two spots, Detroit's Ausar Thompson and New Orleans' Jordan Hawkins close out the top four ranked ahead of Lively. Given how important he's been to his team's success, though, a case could be made for Lively to be at No. 3.
Though Holmgren and certainly Wemby get all the attention and love in these rankings and from most of the media, Lively has already proven himself to be a real factor and positive impact in this league for the Mavs to start his rookie campaign. The sky is the limit for the 19-year-old big man, and he's going to continue to get better as the season progresses.
