Mavs Announce Dereck Lively Surgery and Return Timeline

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Nathan Karseno | Last updated Jul 15, 2025 3:57 PM ET

Late in the season, the Dallas Mavericks faced an unfortunate fate related to injuries. Just after an earth-shaking trade, Anthony Davis went down with a groin strain. Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford suffered knee injuries, and Dereck Lively II missed a handful of games with a stress fracture in his ankle.

Lively sat 38 games from January on through the end of the season with the injury.

Now, reports have surfaced that Lively has undergone surgery to clean up bone spurs in his right foot - the same as his stress fracture - as reported by ESPN's Shams Charania.

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II has undergone surgery to clean up bone spurs in his right foot, sources tell ESPN. He is expected to be healthy for training camp. pic.twitter.com/OdzHjV3zA8
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 15, 2025

The good news is that Lively should be healthy in time for the Mavs' training camp.

The bad news is that this setback continues a concerning history for the young center since he was drafted with the No. 12 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He played 55 games as a rookie and was limited to just 36 last year after dealing with a variety of injuries. Lively has started 71 of those 91 career games.

When he has been healthy, Lively has been one of the most promising young centers in the NBA with dynamic two-way ability. His vertical athleticism has been a huge part of Jason Kidd's offense that frequently features lobs to the basket. Defensively, the 7-footer has great instincts in protecting the hoop blocking shots.

With a healthy Lively, Davis and Gafford, the Mavericks have a loaded front court and can turn into legitimate contenders upon Irving's return sometime near the All-Star break at the earliest.

Lively has career averages of 8.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.5 blocks in 23.4 minutes per game with the Mavs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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