Dallas Mavericks Rookie Will Miss Matchup vs. Detroit Pistons

As the Dallas Mavericks worked on putting away the Miami Heat on Thursday night, their rookie center, Dereck Lively, was believed to have suffered a minor setback.

The center checked into the matchup for 23 minutes off the bench and produced four points while coming down with two rebounds. He had a quiet night as the Mavericks defeated the Heat by six points.

Lively isn’t expected to suit up and face the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night. However, the Mavericks described the reason for his eventual absence is due to “personal reasons.” While he might’ve avoided an injury-related setback, Lively won’t be on the court with his teammates to take on the Pistons this week.

For Dallas, they could take on a scrappy young Pistons team without some key players. In addition to Lively, the Mavericks could be without Luka Doncic for the evening. Although Doncic has been healthy and available to play, a right elbow sprain has the Mavericks considering sitting Doncic for the night, leaving his status as questionable.

Doncic doesn’t miss many games, but without him this year, the Mavericks are 3-5.

Lively might not hold the same value as Doncic this early in his career, but the young big man has been a stellar addition to the team since landing with the Mavericks via the 2023 NBA Draft.

The rookie has started in 42 of the 45 games he appeared in. While averaging 25 minutes on the floor, Lively hit on 74 percent of his field goals, producing nine points per game. On the glass, Lively is good for seven rebounds per game. He’s also averaging 1.4 blocks this season.

The former five-star recruit out of Philadelphia attended Duke for one year in 2022-2023. After starring in his role at the NCAA level, Lively took a chance to enter the big league. He was selected 12th overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder before getting traded to the Mavs.

Lively had an immediate role in Dallas, spending 30 minutes off the bench in his NBA debut. From that point on, he became a full-time starter.