Dallas Mavericks Let Rookie-Scale Extension Deadline Pass Without Deals For Dereck Lively II, Marcus Sasser

DALLAS — The 5 p.m. CT deadline for rookie-scale extensions passed Monday without the Dallas Mavericks signing center Dereck Lively II or guard Marcus Sasser. Both players will spend the 2026-27 season in the fourth and final year of their rookie contracts.

Lively will earn $7,239,131 this season, and Sasser will earn $5,198,983. Dallas can make each of them a restricted free agent next summer by extending a qualifying offer, which would give the Mavericks the right to match any offer sheet either player signs with another team.

The Mavericks picked up Lively’s fourth-year team option last October. Dallas and Lively held early-stage talks on an extension over the summer, according to a July 27 report from Marc Stein of The Stein Line.

On Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder agreed to a five-year, $139 million rookie-scale extension with Cason Wallace, Shams Charania of ESPN reported. Dallas drafted Wallace 10th overall in 2023 and sent him to Oklahoma City for the rights to Lively, the 12th pick. Wallace was born in Dallas and played at Richardson High School, and he made the All-Defensive Second Team last season. He was the sixth player from the 2023 draft class to agree to a rookie-scale extension before Monday.

Dereck Lively II Not Yet Cleared After December Foot Surgery

Lively has not been medically cleared to play after right foot surgery. He sat out all four of Dallas’ preseason games. Those included both games against the Houston Rockets in Macao and Friday’s 135-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at American Airlines Center.

Dallas announced Dec. 10 that Lively would have season-ending surgery on the foot, and Dr. James Calder performed the procedure at the Fortius Clinic in London. On Oct. 9, Mavericks president Masai Ujiri said Lively had progressed to shooting and was working toward running on the court. Mavericks coach Dusty May gave an update two days later, before Dallas beat Houston 132-115 in the second game in Macao.

“I’ll defer to the medical staff on that. I know this, he’s moving well,” May said. “We see him regularly getting treatment, doing things on the court. There’s just a return to play protocol that everyone goes through. It’s a little bit unique, but he’s in good spirits.”

“He’s working every day, and whenever he’s back, he’s going to have a major impact on this team,” May continued.

Over three seasons, Lively has appeared in 98 of a possible 246 regular-season games. He has averaged 8.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists and has shot 72.5% from the field.

As a rookie in 2023-24, Lively made the All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 55 games. He played 7 games last season, and his most recent appearance came Nov. 21, 2025, against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Marcus Sasser Enters Final Rookie-Scale Season With Hometown Mavericks

Dallas acquired Sasser from the Detroit Pistons on July 8 in a six-team trade. Stein had reported June 30 that the Mavericks emerged as a leading suitor for the guard. Detroit exercised Sasser’s fourth-year team option on Oct. 21, 2025, nine months before the trade.

Sasser was born in Dallas and played at Red Oak High School before four seasons at Houston for Kelvin Sampson. The Cougars reached the Final Four in 2021. As a senior in 2022-23, Sasser was a consensus All-American and won the Jerry West Award. The Memphis Grizzlies drafted him 25th overall in 2023, and Detroit acquired his rights on draft night.

“Sass, first of all, I’ve been impressed with his cutting,” May said in Macao after the first week of training camp. “He’s been a real contributor when he wasn’t even directly involved in the play. He’s had a lot of those hidden plays that really make the team go. His shooting, his decision-making has been very sound, and defensively, he played at Houston, so we know we’re going to get his best effort.”

Through three seasons, Sasser has averaged 7.0 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 166 games and has made 38.6% of his 3-point attempts. As a rookie on April 12, 2024, he scored 24 points for the Pistons in a 107-89 win over Dallas at American Airlines Center.

Last season in Detroit, Sasser averaged 5.2 points, 1.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 12.0 minutes across 38 games. He shot 39.0% from the field and 41.5% from 3-point range. Detroit rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win its first-round series and lost in the second round, and Sasser averaged 4.5 points in 6 playoff games.

“I experienced the playoffs last year, so I kind of know what that’s like,” Sasser said at camp. “It’s a different game. I took some things from the playoffs last year and added it to my game this summer. [I’m] really just trying to come in a lot better shape so I can sustain picking up 94 feet and playing a fast tempo game for a longer period of time.”

Sasser missed Dallas’ first three preseason games with a left adductor injury. The team listed him with left adductor soreness for both games in Macao and with left adductor tightness for the Oct. 14 loss to New Orleans. After practice Oct. 15, May said he anticipated Sasser would play a little in the preseason finale.

“I just slipped in practice and kinda overstretched it, but I’m good,” Sasser explained.

Two days later, Sasser made his Mavericks debut against Atlanta and scored 5 points.

The Mavericks open the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 21, at Toyota Center in Houston. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.