We all know the hype surrounding rookies Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, however Dallas’ rookie Dereck Lively II is quietly on the rise.
19-year-old Lively has arguably been the Mavs’ second-most impactful participant behind Luka Doncic as Dallas get pleasure from a 15-8 begin to the season.
Lively was chosen because the quantity 12 total choose within the 2023 Draft and NBA punters actually weren’t anticipating his transition into the league to go so easily.
He was tasked with an enormous problem on Tuesday evening when he was up towards Anthony Davis, however he grabbed the chance with each fingers.
The massive man posted a formidable eight factors, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
Lively seemed seamless beside Luka and in clutch time got here up with an enormous block and rebound which helped Dallas to a 127-125 victory over the Lakers.
Lively’s block and Rebound to seal the sport #mavs #mffl #dalvslal pic.twitter.com/CFqy2wauVK
— graysongrayson (@graysongrayson) December 13, 2023
“Take the age out – he’s a basketball player,” Jason Kidd stated of Lively after the win. “He understands find out how to play the sport. He’s very coachable. This was an excellent take a look at for him on a back-to-back after final evening’s recreation and the minutes and the physicality. Then to show round going from Jaren Jackson to A.D. (Anthony Davis) and understanding he’s enjoying towards two All-Stars – he’s going via it.
“But again, I think the trust – not just of the coaches but his teammates – if Luka is being double-teamed, he’s also looking for Lively to score or play make. It just shows how important he is to this team but how good he really is.”
This efficiency got here of the again off a monster effort towards Memphis on Monday, the place Lively recorded 16 rebounds, which marked his seventh-double digit rebounding perfomance.
In 21 video games via 2023-24 up to now, Lively is averaging 9 factors, 8.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 25.9 minutes.
He is main the whole league on 73.7 p.c capturing from the sector and since Thanksgiving is capturing at 80.4 p.c.
In the 2 video games he hasn’t participated in, the Mavs have misplaced, which is unlikely to be a coincidence.
Despite all this, Lively is just ranked seventh on the NBA’s rookie ladder.
This rookie has the potential to completely blossom this season and is a darkish horse to take out Rookie of the Year.
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