Bold Reality: Dereck Lively II’s season could end due to a foot injury that has shadowed his young career. The Dallas Mavericks center is slated for season-ending surgery on his right foot, marking yet another setback for a player whose talent has always suggested star potential.
Details released by the team indicate the procedure will take place in London, under the care of Dr. James Calder. Earlier, Lively and the Mavericks noted he was pursuing multiple medical opinions as lingering foot discomfort persisted. This comes after he had a procedure on the same foot during the previous off-season.
Lively played his last game of the season on November 21, a 118-115 win over New Orleans. He then sat out the second game of back-to-back nights after missing 10 of the previous 14 games due to a knee issue. The foot problem resurfaced as he returned to action.
At 21 years old, Lively will have missed 148 of 246 possible games by the end of his third season. His injury history includes missing 27 games as a rookie but remaining healthy for the Mavericks’ postseason run to the NBA Finals, Dallas’ first Finals appearance since their 2011 championship. The team ultimately fell to Boston in five games. Injuries cost him 46 games last season, and the 2024-25 campaign is shaping up to include a total of 75 missed games for the former Duke standout and 2023 first-round pick.
When healthy, Lively has shown promise. Standing 7-foot-1, he formed a productive pick-and-roll pairing with Luka Dončić before the Mavericks traded away their young star last season. His potential remains a bright spot for a franchise navigating this post-Doncic era.
Context also matters: Lively hasn’t had extensive opportunities to share the floor with fellow big man Anthony Davis or build chemistry with Cooper Flagg, Duke alumni who joined as part of a notable draft-related storyline. Adding to the off-season shakeups, longtime executive Nico Harrison, who had targeted Davis in the Doncic trade, was fired last month, leaving Dallas to chart a new path as they restart their rebuild.
Across 98 career games, Lively has averaged 8.4 points and 7.0 rebounds, a statistical profile that still suggests significant upside if his health cooperates.
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