Mavericks’ Derek Lively II is out indefinitely after the unfortunate news of a foot injury
Derek Lively II and the Dallas Mavericks received devastating injury notice on Wednesday. According to Shams Charani of ESPN, Lively did expected to miss two to three months with a foot injury.
“Dallas Mavericks center Derek Lively II suffered a small fracture in his foot and is expected to miss 2 to 3 months, sources tell ESPN.” Critical loss for Mavs,” wrote Charania on X, formerly Twitter.
Lively is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With this latest update, however, it’s safe to say they won’t be playing on Wednesday night.
This is a devastating blow for the Mavs, as the injury bug continues to impact the roster significantly.
The confusion arose after the head coach of the Mavs Jason Kidd said he doesn’t believe Lively will be back anytime soon despite the center initially being listed as questionable on Monday’s injury report against the New Orleans Pelicans. Lively was eventually ruled out, but was once again listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game.
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However, as it turns out, Lively is not expected to return anytime soon, giving both the second-year center and the Mavs a tough update. With Dwight Powell also dealing with an injury, the Mavs’ big players right now are Daniel Gafford and Maxi Kleber. One would imagine Dallas will look to add center depth given the Lively update.
The Mavericks entered the 2024-25 season with high expectations after last year’s NBA Finals. However, Dallas is currently just 23-20, good for seventh place in the Western Conference.
Luka Dončić is also currently sidelined with an injury, and it remains to be seen when he will return. Doncic’s updates could be revealed soon, and there’s a chance he could return before the All-Star break.
Derek Lively II’s injury absence is far from ideal, though. He established himself as one of the better centers in the NBA. The Mavs hope he can return sooner rather than later, but for now, he’s out for two to three months with the injury.
2025-01-22 18:11:00
