Duke fans had a pretty good idea of what Dereck Lively brings to the table but the Dallas Mavericks, and the NBA in general, are starting to get the picture.
Remember when Lively began to move up the draft last spring? He may not have moved up far enough.
So far he’s more than held his own against young centers like Victor Wembnayama and Mark Williams and Dallas fans are getting excited as, presumably, are the Mavericks themselves.
This article calls him “the perfect draft pick,” which is high praise indeed. Based on his performance so far though, how could you argue?