Oft-injured Mavericks center Dereck Lively II set for season-ending foot surgery

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DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II is set for season-ending surgery on his ailing right foot, another setback for the promising but oft-injured player.

The team said Wednesday the surgery will be performed by Dr. James Calder in London. The Mavericks previously said Lively was seeking multiple medical opinions as discomfort in the foot lingered.

He had a procedure on the same foot in the offseason.

Lively's final game of the season was a 118-115 victory over New Orleans on Nov. 21. He then sat the second night of a back-to-back after missing 10 of the previous 14 games because of a knee injury. The foot issue arose after his return.

The 21-year-old Lively will have missed 148 of a possible 246 games by the end of his third season.

Lively missed 27 games as a rookie, but was healthy for the postseason as the Mavericks made their first trip to the NBA Finals since winning the franchise's only championship in 2011. Dallas lost to Boston in five games.

Injuries sidelined Lively for 46 games last season, and the former Duke standout and 2023 first-round pick will end up missing 75 games in 2024-25.

When he has been healthy, Lively has been productive. At 7-foot-1, he was a strong pick-and-roll partner with Luka Doncic before the Mavericks traded their young superstar last season.

Lively has barely had a chance to play with fellow big man Anthony Davis, former general manager Nico Harrison's target in the Doncic trade. Harrison was fired last month with the Mavericks off to a slow start in their first full season without Doncic, and the oft-injured Davis was sidelined at the time.

Lively also didn't get to share much of fellow Duke alum Cooper Flagg's rookie season after the Mavericks won the draft lottery and the right to take Flagg No. 1 overall this past summer.

Lively has averaged 8.4 points and 7.0 rebounds in 98 games.

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