Dereck Lively II became the latest Dallas Mavericks player to catch the injury bug. The second-year big man is expected to miss between two and three months with a fracture in his foot, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Lively II was initially questionable for the Mavericks’ matchup with the Timberwolves tonight after missing the past three games. Instead, Dallas is shutting down the Duke product for the foreseeable future.
The Mavericks are already dealing with a handful of injuries, including Luka Doncic’s calf injury that he suffered on Christmas. Kyrie Irving is battling a bulging disk, Klay Thompson has an ankle injury, Dante Exum had to undergo wrist surgery and several other role players have missed time.
Dallas is 23-20 and seventh in the Western Conference midway through January. Injuries have made it difficult for last year’s Western Conference champions to consistently look like legitimate contenders.
Lively II emerged as a key part of this Mavericks team last season and successfully built off it to start this year. He started 25 of 32 games and averaged 9.1 points, 7.8 rebounds 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks in 24 minutes per game.
Daniel Gafford will likely take over as the primary center in Dallas. P.J. Washington, Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell will see their roles elevated. Don’t be shocked if Olivier-Maxence Prosper sees an expanded opportunity as he has been showing some positive flashes in limited minutes lately.
While it has not been the smoothest start to the season, the Mavericks still rank third in odds to win the Western Conference at +700 on DraftKings Sportsbook. They trail only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. Dallas also holds the sixth-best odds of winning the NBA Championship at +1400 and -275 odds of making the playoffs.
