The Mavericks chose not to extend Dereck Lively II before the rookie-scale extension deadline, meaning he will enter restricted free agency after the 2026-27 season if Dallas does not work out a new deal beforehand.<\/p>\n
On the surface, that may look surprising.<\/p>\n
Lively was awesome as a rookie. He immediately looked like the kind of center Dallas could build around long term, finishing lobs, protecting the rim, and becoming a massive part of a team that eventually went to the NBA Finals. He made the All-Rookie team and looked like one of the best picks of the 2023 draft.<\/p>\n
The problem is that he has barely been available since.<\/p>\n
Lively played 36 games in 2024-25 and only seven last season before undergoing season-ending foot surgery. He is entering this season still working his way back and remains out at the start of the year.<\/p>\n
That is really what this decision comes down to.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks know how good Lively can be when he is healthy. We have already seen it. But giving a player a three-, four-, or five-year contract after so little basketball over the last two seasons is a completely different bet.<\/p>\n
There is also a risk on the other side.<\/p>\n
If Lively gets healthy, plays 65 games, and looks like the guy Dallas thought it drafted, the Mavericks may regret not locking him up now. A healthy 22-year-old center who protects the rim, finishes everything around the basket, and has already proven he can play in the Finals will have a market. Dallas could have bought him low before his value rebounds.<\/p>\n
Instead, they are essentially betting that waiting is worth the risk.<\/p>\n
The good news is that Lively will be a restricted free agent, not unrestricted. Dallas can match an outside offer and retain him even if another team comes with a large contract. That doesn\u2019t mean it will be cheap, but it means the Mavericks aren\u2019t risking losing him for nothing.<\/p>\n
I understand the decision.<\/p>\n
I also understand why it could look bad eventually.<\/p>\n
Lively has already shown what he can be when healthy. The problem is that \u201cwhen healthy\u201d has become the most important part of every conversation about him.<\/p>\n
For now, Dallas is making him prove it again before committing to him long term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mavericks chose not to extend Dereck Lively II before the rookie-scale extension deadline, meaning he will enter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,686,149,4057,166,1320,4447,6],"class_list":["post-863129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-mavericks","tag-basketball","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallasmavericks","tag-mavericks","tag-mavericks-news","tag-mavericks-roster","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117470028366591704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}