Dallas Mavs Preseason LISTEN: Why Dereck Livley II Hype is Real; Jaden Hardy's Next Step

The Dallas Mavericks, despite losing both of their first two preseason games, have several positives to lean on heading into the 2023-24 NBA season, including the defensive impact of rookie big man Dereck Lively II, Jaden Hardy's offensive spark, and more.

Dalton Trigg | Oct 9, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

When the Dallas Mavericks acquired 19-year-old Dereck Lively II with the No. 12 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, everyone within the organization recognized how good of a fit he could be alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but there was also a sense that he might not be ready to be the team's starting center from day one.

"That's something that's circled on my board – to be a starter for the Mavs" Lively told DallasBasketball.com during the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. "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."

Fast forward three months, and it appears that Lively has ‘scraped away’ enough to officially circle that goal on his board, as head coach Jason Kidd has started him at center through the Mavs’ first two preseason games against the Minnesota Timberwolves’ loaded frontcourt duo of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite Dallas losing both exhibitions, Lively showcased how he’s been able to earn the starting spot over veteran big men Dwight Powell and Richaun Holmes.

Rudy Gobert, Dereck Lively — Dallas Mavericks rookie Dereck Lively II battles with Minnesota Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert :: Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images

On today’s episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, we discuss all the good qualities Lively displayed during the NBA Global Games in Abu Dhabi, including his impressive nose for the basketball, as well as the high praise he received from Gobert and Towns.

Another bright spot for the Mavs has been the play of second-year player Jaden Hardy. The 21-year-old picked up where he left off at the end of his promising rookie season, piling up points and showing that he can do more than just shoot by pushing the pace in transition and getting to the rim with relative ease.

The Mavs have themselves a shooting-guard logjam with Hardy, Tim Hardaway Jr., Seth Curry and Josh Green all jockeying for minutes. Hardaway might be the odd man out before it’s said and done, and one interesting trade scenario discussed on this episode involves the Mavs sending him to the Brooklyn Nets while reuniting with Dorian Finney-Smith.

You can listen to today’s full episode below. As always, thanks for tuning in, and be sure to hit that subscribe button on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else you get your podcasts!

Published Oct 9, 2023

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.