Kyrie Irving is undergoing rehab for his ACL tear and will miss much, if not all, of the coming season. Anthony Davis is undergoing rehab following retina surgery on his eye, but he is expected to be ready to go for the start of training camp.
Now add Dereck Lively II to the recovery list — he has undergone surgery to remove bone spurs in his right foot, a story broken by Marc Stein. His foot was placed in a walking boot after the procedure, but he is expected to be ready to play when Dallas opens training camp in September, according to subsequent reports.
Lively played in just 36 games last season due to a small fracture in his foot (or ankle, depending on the report. (How to best treat Lively and pushing him to play reportedly was a flash point in a disagreement between members of the Mavericks’ medical and training teams, with athletic performance director Keith Belton now gone from the franchise.) Due to the injury, Lively averaged 8.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, playing 23 minutes a night when he was on the court.
Lively is part of a very talented and deep front-court rotation for the Mavericks next season. Lively and Daniel Gafford are the more traditional rim-running centers, with Anthony Davis then playing the four (his preferred spot). However, that pushes No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg to the three, when watching him in Summer League he seems more like a point-forward four — expect Jason Kidd to have Davis at the five and Flagg at the four at key points this season. Also, P.J. Washington is coming off the bench in that mix.
That’s a lot of talent up front, and it appears Lively will now be healthy enough to play a larger role this season.
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