Mavericks' Dereck Lively II out indefinitely after unfortunate foot injury update
Yesterday at 01:11 PM
Dereck Lively II and the Dallas Mavericks received a devastating injury update on Wednesday. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Lively is expected to miss two-to-three months with a foot injury.
“Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II has sustained a small fracture in his foot and is expected to miss 2-to-3 months, sources tell ESPN. Critical loss for the Mavs,” Charania wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Lively was listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. With this latest update, though, it is safe to say that he will not be playing on Wednesday night.
This is a devastating blow for the Mavs, as the injury bug continues to significantly impact the roster.
Confusion was sparked after Mavs head coach Jason Kidd said he did not believe Lively was going to return soon despite the center initially being listed as questionable on Monday’s injury report against the New Orleans Pelicans. Lively was ultimately ruled out but was listed as questionable once again for Wednesday’s game.
As it turns out, Lively is not expected to return anytime soon, though, giving both the second-year center and the Mavs a difficult update. With Dwight Powell also dealing with injury, the Mavs’ bigs are currently Daniel Gafford and Maxi Kleber. One has to imagine that Dallas will look to add center depth given Lively’s update.
The Mavericks entered the 2024-25 season with high expectations following their NBA Finals run last year. Dallas is currently just 23-20 overall, though, which is good for seventh place in the Western Conference.
Luka Doncic is also currently out with an injury, and it remains to be seen when he will return. A Doncic update may be revealed soon, and there’s a chance he will return before the All-Star break.
Nevertheless, Dereck Lively II’s injury absence is far from ideal. He was establishing himself as one of the better centers in the NBA. The Mavs are hopeful he will be able to return sooner rather than later, but for now he has a two-to-three month injury timeline.
The post Mavericks’ Dereck Lively II out indefinitely after unfortunate foot injury update appeared first on ClutchPoints.
