DALLAS — Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II was not among the 2023 draft picks ESPN’s Shams Charania named Friday on “NBA Today” while going through the rookie-scale extension candidates left in the class.
Earlier in the day, Charania reported that Keyonte George had agreed to a five-year, $157.5 million extension with the Utah Jazz. The deal has no player or team option. Houston’s Amen Thompson agreed to a five-year, $208 million rookie-scale extension on Sept. 3.
Teams have until Oct. 19 to complete rookie-scale extensions. Charania paired Brandon Miller with the Charlotte Hornets and Ausar Thompson with the Detroit Pistons as the two he expects to keep talking in the days and weeks ahead.
“I’m told there is optimism with an Ausar Thompson extension in Detroit,” Charania said. “And then I would also keep an eye on Cason Wallace, Brandin Podziemski, Jaime Jaquez … and Anthony Black who’s also a high draft pick in that class. But I would look at both Brandon Miller and Ausar Thompson to have more and more conversations with their respective teams, the Hornets and the Pistons, in the upcoming days and weeks.”
Dallas used the 10th pick in that draft on Cason Wallace and sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the rights to Lively, the 12th pick. Wallace was born in Dallas and played at Richardson High School.
The Orlando Magic took Anthony Black sixth overall. Black was born in Duncanville and played high school basketball at Coppell and Duncanville.
At 18th, Jaime Jaquez Jr. spent three seasons with Miami before a trade sent him to the Milwaukee Bucks this offseason. The Golden State Warriors drafted Brandin Podziemski one spot later.
Dereck Lively II Extension Talks With Dallas Mavericks
Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported July 27 that Dallas and Lively had held early-stage talks on an extension. Without a deal by the deadline, Lively is on track for restricted free agency next summer.
The Mavericks exercised Lively’s $7.24 million team option for 2026-27 last October. It is the fourth and final season of his rookie-scale contract.
Across three seasons, Lively has played 98 of a possible 246 regular-season games. He has averaged 8.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists and shot 72.5% from the field.
His rookie season lasted 55 games, including 42 starts. Lively averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists. He made the All-Rookie Second Team and finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting. In 21 playoff games during Dallas’ run to the 2024 NBA Finals, he averaged 7.9 points and 7.4 rebounds.
In January 2025, Dallas announced a sprained right ankle before further testing revealed a stress fracture. Lively finished the 2024-25 regular season with 36 appearances, averaging 8.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. Surgery to remove bone spurs from the same foot followed that July.
Dereck Lively II Recovery From Right Foot Surgery
A sprained right knee cost Lively nine games early last season. He played seven games in 2025-26 and averaged 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 16.4 minutes. He has not played since Nov. 21, 2025.
Dallas announced Dec. 10 that he would have season-ending surgery on his right foot. Dr. James Calder performed the procedure at the Fortius Clinic in London. On June 26, the Mavericks said Lively was walking and lifting weights but had not progressed to running.
Dallas has no hard rule for players carrying an injury history, general manager Mike Schmitz said Aug. 14 on 105.3 The Fan’s “G-Bag Nation.” Each case is handled on its own. Schmitz did not put a timeline on Lively’s return.
“D-Live has been working his tail off,” Schmitz said. “He’s in the facility constantly, completely locked into everything we’re doing and doing everything in his power to be his best self. Really, really proud of just the approach he’s taken and his mentality, his voice. He’s young, but he’s got a presence to him. Just having him in our facility every day and working his tail off to get to 100 percent is something that we feel every day.”
“He’s doing everything in his power, and we’re just really proud of the progress he’s made and continuing to chip away at everything as we get closer to the start of camp,” Schmitz continued.
Mavericks coach Dusty May did not give a timeline either when he was in studio at 105.3 The Fan on Sept. 3. Which lineups work together is something Dallas still has to figure out, May said.
“When you look at just the positional versatility we have, even with our young guys, Coop can play a number of positions,” May said. “Morez, who I obviously coached, can play a number of positions, and he can guard all five positions, which allows you to have more lineup versatility. If we get D-Live back sooner than later, that’s a good young group. And then Risacher, who we just brought in, Max, PJ, these are guys that can slide up and down the lineup, so it gives you a lot of hope that you can find a way to win any type of game.”
Training camp opens later this month. Dallas opens the preseason against the Houston Rockets on Oct. 9 at The Venetian Arena in Macao, with tip-off at 7 a.m. CT. The regular season begins Oct. 21 in Houston, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT.
