The Dallas Mavericks will be dealing with a few injury woes to start the 2025-26 campaign. Kyrie Irving will be out until the start of the next calendar year, and Daniel Gafford joined him on the sidelines after the shot-blocking big man sprained his ankle on the very first day of training camp. With Gafford out, one would expect that this would pave the way for third-year big man Dereck Lively II to break out in a bigger role.
However, one thing that sparked some concern was the fact that Lively played in just eight minutes during the Mavericks' 114-101 win over the Utah Jazz in preseason action on Monday night. Lively, as one would recall, sustained a stress fracture that limited him towards the end of last year.
Nevertheless, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd shut down whatever concerns there may be over Lively and his physical well-being after he was limited against the Jazz.
“Everything is scripted. The minutes were all scripted. Lively was [on an] eight-minute script. To see him with that first group. He did great,” Kidd said, via DLLS Mavs on X (formerly Twitter).
Mavericks HC Jason Kidd said that the plan was to limit C Dereck Lively II to just 8 minutes last against the Jazz and that was the script going in #MFFL pic.twitter.com/ntOwlqlSaY
— DLLS Mavs (@DLLS_Mavs) October 14, 2025
Indeed, there's no reason to push Lively's minutes up in preseason action. It's important for the Mavericks' starting center to jell with his teammates and get up to game speed, and he'll have more time to do so when they face the Los Angeles Lakers in preseason action on Wednesday.
All indications point to the Mavericks deciding to start a supersized lineup, and they definitely experimented with a lineup consisting of Lively, Anthony Davis, PJ Washington, Klay Thompson, and Cooper Flagg — with Flagg drawing the bulk of ballhandling responsibilities.
The Mavericks' strength is in its depth, as they will look to hold the fort and compete in the West as they wait for Irving (and Gafford) to return.
Mavericks' defense will be tough for opponents to deal with
The Luka Doncic trade remains perplexing, although the Mavericks decided upon a singular roster-building strategic focus and are certainly sticking to it. “Defense wins championships” was what general manager Nico Harrison used as the justification for trading Doncic away, and they are at least fulfilling that vision of theirs.
With Davis and Lively manning the middle, and Washington and Flagg hounding opposing ballhandlers, expect the Mavericks to put up a top-five defense next season. If Flagg proves to be a more advanced ballhandler in his rookie season than initially expected, then they could have an incredibly balanced two-way team.
