DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have exercised their fourth-year team option on center Dereck Lively II for the 2026-27 season.
Lively (7-1, 234) earned NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors after his first year, where he averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 23.5 minutes in 55 games (42 starts). He was also named to the 2024 NBA Rising Stars Game for his efforts. He set the highest single-season field goal percentage by a Maverick (min. 200 FGA) after shooting 74.7 percent from the field in his debut season.
The Philadelphia native was named to his second NBA Rising Stars Game for the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend after averaging 8.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 blocks and 23.1 minutes in 36 games (29 starts). Lively finished the 2024-25 season with a 70.2 percent field goal percentage, his second consecutive season shooting above 70.0 percent from the field. He additionally became one of five Mavericks to begin their career with two straight seasons with 50-plus blocks.
The Duke product was originally selected by Oklahoma City as the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, before having his draft rights traded to Dallas.
