Mavericks center Dereck Lively II's 3-word message after injury update
Yesterday at 03:48 PM
On Wednesday, the Dallas Mavericks got a rough injury update when it was announced that starting center Dereck Lively II would miss the next two to three months after sustaining a small fracture in his right foot, per Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Lively had been out of the lineup for the last few games with the injury but the fracture was not discovered until a recent test, after which the timetable for his return was given.
Despite the setback, Lively appears to be taking an optimistic approach to his recovery, posting “I’ll be back,” alongside a prayer emoji, on his Instagram story Wednesday.
Lively has been an essential part of the Mavericks roster over the last two seasons. The former first round pick has given Dallas a degree of defensive rim protection as well as an offensive lob threat, in addition to being one of the most athletic big men in the NBA, able to run the floor and give the team a transition element.
The Mavericks are currently dealing with multiple injuries, including most notably to franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic, who has been out of the lineup since sustaining an injury on Christmas against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Kyrie Irving has also been on and off the injury report for Dallas, having just recently returned from his own short injury absence.
Can the Mavericks hold down the fort?
Injuries have quickly threatened to derail what started out as a promising season for the Mavericks. Doncic is currently in his second extended missed period of time, with no clear return date set as of yet, and the team has seen their production dip dramatically as a result.
The offseason addition of Klay Thompson has paid some dividends, but at this stage of his career, Thompson isn’t the kind of player who can carry an undermanned offense for large stretches.
With Lively now out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, the Mavericks will rely more heavily on Daniel Gafford, who recently had a monster game against the Charlotte Hornets.
If Lively is able to return on the shorter end of his timetable, there is hope that he could be back before the postseason.
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