LAS VEGAS – When you have a championship-caliber NBA team, the less news generated in training camp, the better.
The Mavericks don’t have a ton of mystery connected to their preseason, which is good. But coach Jason Kidd did supply a little newsy tidbit early in camp when he said that Dereck Lively II is the first-team center, at least for now.
Last season, the tag team of Lively and Daniel Gafford – with Gafford usually in the starting lineup – worked like a charm. But Lively, at the ripe old age of 20, was tabbed as the starter going into training camp.