The Dallas Mavericks exercised their fourth-year team option on center Dereck Lively II for the 2026-27 season on Monday, the team announced, keeping him under contract through next season.
The Duke product was originally selected by Oklahoma City as the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, before having his draft rights traded to Dallas.
Lively earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors after his first year, and was named to the 2024 NBA Rising Stars Game. He set the highest single-season field goal percentage by a Maverick (min. 200 FG attempts) after shooting 74.7% from the field in his debut season.
The Philadelphia native was named to his second NBA Rising Stars Game for the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend after averaging 8.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 36 games (29 starts). He additionally became one of five Mavericks to begin their career with two straight seasons of 50-plus blocks.
Mavericks
Lively, still on his rookie contract, is set to make $5.2 million this season, before a pay bump to $7.2 million in 2026-27, per Spotrac.
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