Dallas hoped this season would mark a clean slate for Dereck Lively II after last year’s long injury layoff, but the 21-year-old center is again sidelined, this time with renewed pain in the same foot he had surgically repaired over the summer.
Lively is dealing with “swelling and discomfort” in his right foot, and the Mavericks have already ruled him out for their next three games, Christian Clark of The Athletic reported.
The team confirmed that Lively will not travel on Dallas’ four-game road trip, which continues against the Lakers on Friday, and that he will be re-evaluated in seven to ten days. Clark wrote that Lively “has only been able to play in 7 of 19 games this season,” a continuation of the same availability issues that have defined the early stages of his career.
Lively’s history of lower-body setbacks has become a real concern inside the organization. Over the past week, he missed two games with what the team called “right foot injury management,” and last season he sat for 36 straight games with what Dallas described as a stress fracture in his right ankle.
Clark added that in April, then-general manager Nico Harrison said he did not expect Lively would need offseason surgery, a belief that “ended up being inaccurate,” as the young big man later underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in his right foot.
Now, the same foot is limiting him again.
Dallas traded for Lively on draft night in 2023, and the former number 12 pick quickly became a foundational piece. He started 42 games as a rookie and played meaningful minutes during the Mavericks’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, earning comparisons to former Mavericks center Tyson Chandler for his rim protection and mobility.
Despite averaging 8.4 points, 7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks across his career, Lively has appeared in only 98 games in three seasons, an availability problem Dallas hoped was behind him.
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