MINNEAPOLIS – What we’ve seen since Christmas Day is that rookie center Dereck Lively II is going to be a major cornerstone for the Mavericks.
The key words there are “going to be.”
Occasionally, he already is that priceless foundation piece that the Mavericks can count on in the middle.
But it’s an inconsistent road that the 7-1 Lively is taking. And that’s to be expected for a rookie big man. Rare is the player who comes into the NBA and immediately patrols and controls the paint at both ends of the court.
Those days will come for Lively.
For now, he’s going to have nights like Christmas in Phoenix, when he returned from a four-game absence to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds.
And then there are going to be nights like Wednesday and Thursday this week, when he fought foul trouble against Cleveland and Minnesota and was unable to stay on the court long enough to contribute.
“That’s definitely a massive challenge,” said veteran center Dwight Powell about young players being aggressive, but not getting into foul trouble. “That’s one of the most difficult things. We’re asking a lot of D-Live. And he’s doing an amazing job. He’s studying the game and bringing energy and effort. He’s impacting the game on a lot of levels.
“He’s doing everything in his power to shore up the things he needs to improve on. That’s a big challenge for rookies in this league, but especially centers.”
Against the Timberwolves on Thursday, Lively played only 15 minutes and just five after halftime when he picked up his fourth foul minutes after halftime and his fifth early in the fourth quarter. Both times, he took a seat.
“Bad luck,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He picked up his fourth there (early in the third). He’s a rookie. He didn’t maybe have his best game tonight, but it’s going to happen. I thought his effort, energy and mindset were in the right place tonight. It was just unfortunate he got in foul trouble.”
Lively has been one of the best rookie surprises in the league. He’s averaged 8.9 points and 7.5 rebounds, along with shooting 73.4 percent and swatting back 1.5 shots per game.
He’s got that “it” factor as a first-year player.
And when he’s being honest, Lively himself didn’t really know that this was in store for him when he was made the 12th pick of the 2023 draft.
“No, you just got to be thankful,” Lively said. “Thankful for the work, thankful for my teammates, my coaches.
“The work works, being in the gym twice a day every day. Being able to watch film, work on your body, work on your mind, work on your timing, it all stacks up and makes everything fall into place.”
And every time he steps on the floor, he’s learning. At age 19, he’s soaking it all up, making mistakes and getting better.
That’s something to remember when games like Thursday’s come along.
“There’s sometimes I pass the ball out and people are yelling at me because I pass it,” Lively said. “They just want me to put pressure on the rim and go dunk the ball. That makes me that much more confident to go score the ball.”
Here’s our other takeaways from the 118-110 loss to the Wolves:
GRIT AND GRIND: It may be the old motto for the Memphis Grizzlies, but it was applicable to the Mavericks on Thursday. They worked and competed, despite long odds with both Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving sidelined with injuries. The Mavericks had a one-point lead midway through the third quarter before the Wolves asserted themselves. “You’re never satisfied with losing but there are a lot of good things we can take from this,” Kidd said. “I thought the energy and effort – guys competed. And the bench was really good for us. The guys fought.” And with players like Jaden Hardy, Seth Curry and Dante Exum playing big roles down the stretch, it was a great learning experience. “It shows the grit of our team,” said Tim Hardaway Jr., who had 32 points off the bench. “Knowing that Luka’s been carrying the team very well and putting up huge numbers. We’re out there doing our best to hold the fort and give ourselves a chance. And this is all bigger picture. Down the stretch of the season when close games come and you got guys who aren’t playing as many minutes out here to have an opportunity to do so and be in close games. It’s going to help us out big time down at the end of the season.”
ANT MAN PLAYS BIG: In the Wolves visit to Dallas on Dec. 14, Anthony Edwards had just nine points, although he did come up with 11 assists. On Thursday, he made up for that in the scoring department with 44 points. “He had a bad game, so he was going to make sure he didn’t have two against us,” Kidd said. “He’s a great player, shooting the three, getting to the free-throw line. You shoot 18 free throws, that’s going to help you get to 40.” Edwards was 14 of 18 from the line. The Mavericks shot 19 free throws as a team.
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