Dereck Lively II’s third season in the NBA is over after just seven games.
The Mavericks big man will undergo season-ending surgery on his right foot, the team announced Wednesday. The surgery will be performed by Dr. James Calder at the Fortius Clinic in London.
According to the Mavericks, Lively is expected to make a full recovery and will be available for the start of the team’s 2026-27 training camp.
The Dallas Mavericks announced that center Dereck Lively II will undergo season-ending surgery on his right foot.
Lively is expected to make a full recovery and be available for the start of training camp. Further updates will be provided as appropriate.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) December 10, 2025
Mavericks
“Dereck has handled every challenge of this season with professionalism and resilience,” said Mavericks co-interim general manager Matt Riccardi. “While this is a setback, we’re confident in his long-term future and will support him fully through his recovery.”
Lively has missed 18 games this season with swelling and discomfort in his right foot. He last appeared in a Nov. 21 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Earlier in the season, Lively missed nearly three weeks due to a right knee sprain that occurred on Oct. 26. On Dec. 4, the Mavericks announced that Lively was seeking multiple opinions on the next steps to treat his recent right foot discomfort.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd was asked about Lively’s decision to seek multiple opinions before Friday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“For a 21-year-old, it’s tough. He wants to play. Unfortunately, he can’t play right now,” Kidd said. “Hopefully, as he goes through this process of finding other opinions of what he should do, it brings resolve and he can get back to playing because we miss him, but he misses playing.”
The Mavericks big man has dealt with injury woes since the franchise acquired his draft rights from Oklahoma City in the 2023 NBA draft. He has only played in 98 out of a possible 189 regular season games.
Lively missed over two months during the 2024-25 season because of a stress fracture in his right foot, which the Mavericks originally labeled as a right ankle sprain. He eventually returned to the lineup for four of the final six games of the regular season, but needed offseason surgery to clean out bone spurs.
Lively has averaged 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 blocks in seven games this season.
The Mavericks will have to navigate the rest of the season with a group of bigs that includes All-Star forward Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, veteran Dwight Powell and two-way center Moussa Cisse.
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.
Find more Mavericks coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.