Luka Doncic raves about Dereck Lively’s debut

Luka Doncic raves about Dereck Lively’s debut

While San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, received plenty of hype over the offseason, one particular Dallas Mavericks player outshined him in their respective rookie debuts Wednesday.

Mavericks rookie big Dereck Lively II finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds–including 10 points and seven rebounds in the second half–on 7-of-8 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench Wednesday. He converted all seven of his attempts inside the restricted area.

You could say superstar wing Luka Doncic was quite bullish about Lively’s play after the game.

“He played amazing,” Doncic told Cassidy Hubbarth after the game. “I don’t remember seeing a rookie that played that amazing for (their) first game. I remember my first game; I was nervous. He didn’t seem that nervous. He played f—ing amazing.”

Lively, standing at 7-foot, had a career-high of 13 points in his lone season at Duke, a mark he reached twice against Virginia Tech and Pitt. On Wednesday, he appeared very spry as a vertical spacer and active on both the offensive and defensive glass, two qualities that have been missing from the Dallas frontcourt in the Doncic era at his size.

“I just go out there and try to take it play by play,” Lively said after the game. “If I get a bucket, that’s what I’m happy about. If I get someone else a bucket, I’m even happier. I’m just trying to make sure the score goes up and we come out with the win.”

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Dereck Lively was drafted No. 12 overall after Dallas traded back two picks with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who selected guard Cason Wallace. In terms of what this means for Dallas’ rotation, Lively only bought himself more playing time since he’s in a frontcourt without much clarity at center.

If he keeps playing like this, who knows how high his ceiling will be within this offense? It’s great having a superstar and the team’s franchise player look this in tune with a rookie in his debut, isn’t it?

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