Mavericks' Klay Thompson Praises Dereck Lively II After Career High vs. Nuggets

The Dallas Mavericks lost 112-101 to the Denver Nuggets at home on Sunday, but that didn't stop Dereck Lively II from putting up a career-high eight assists against Nikola Jokic, the best passing center of all time. Five of those assists went to Klay Thompson, who had one of his best games of the season with 25 points.

Thompson was asked about the development of Lively in a press conference following their loss to the Nuggets, and the future Hall of Famer had high praise for the young man.

“I can’t believe D-Live is only 20 years old," Thompson exclaimed." What a great player he is and will continue to be. He’s just scratching the surface of what he can be. So active, so athletic. What an incredible gift for him to be on our roster. Such a youthful, energetic presence that's so important to what we do. It’s an honor to play with him... I think there's another level to get to.”

Lively has been up and down in his second season after having a phenomenal playoff run, but he's been playing better as of late, including a season-high 21 points on Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers. He still needs to be better about defending without fouling, especially avoiding the silly ones, but his passing gives him and this offense an upside it hasn't had since they traded for Luka Doncic in the 2018 Draft.

Jason Kidd has implemented more dribble-handoffs this season with Lively and Daniel Gafford, and while there have been some growing pains at times, Lively's ceiling suggests he can do it consistently, as do games like this. Lively is averaging 9.3 PPG, 8.1 RPG, and 2.7 APG in his second season out of Duke.