DERECK LIVELY II SCOUTING REPORT | 2023 NBA Draft | Dallas Mavericks | Duke Blue Devils 

He’s the perfect pick for Dallas

Thanks! Definitely think his passing is something to monitor. Hasn't gotten that many chances to show it off either, since Flip is the better passer in all fairness & his game really suits operating out of short rolls.

Thanks my guy, appreciate that! Spread the word wherever you can

Ideal pick for the Mavs!

Thanks, really appreciate that! Regarding your other comment, I totally think that he will be able to shoot the three. Defensively, he has plenty of time to iron that swatting out. When you're as dominant as he is at the rim, you have a tendency to try to block everything. If anything, I feel like Lively is more reined in than other defensive bigs his age.

@@FloorandCeiling I foresee in him a Mavericks, Lakers, or Warriors jersey

Totally agreed. Check out my latest mock draft video!

🎯

They draft him already

he actually makes mavs a strong team now

Lively stock is shooting up for good reason.

I think the Lakers might rather have Lively than instead of like, Mo Bamba long term. He'd also be a great fit next to all their playmakers

He worked out with Lakers

L

Dallas😂😂😂

He absolutely has that potential. As with every big in the league, there’s an adjustment curve to be expected but I am not worried about Lively being too jumpy or foul prone in the long run. He’s arguably the best rim protector in this class!

Thanks, appreciate you! Lively is gonna shut down the rim wherever he goes. That’s why I don’t think he should fall past Dallas at 10 or Orlando at 11 - they could both use his rim protection.

That's way too high for me. I do think Lively is closer to being a lottery pick than he is a second round pick, mostly because I think his monster defensive output can offset his limited offense (which can be a non-issue in a team with plenty of scoring). He also has a really impressive high school and USA youth background, which I feel always counts for something in addition to playing for Duke. At the same time, I think we saw just in his last game that Lively can have a super difficult time being impactful on offense. It's not *exactly* his fault, but he's so reliant on other setting him up that he's literally putting no shots up if he isn't being set up right at the basket.

@@FloorandCeiling he is a lot closer to CHET than you think.... Chet just got over hyped by NBA analyst to boost his draft stock, Bc They knew GM'S wouldn't taken him high bc of how Skinny In "frail" he was...... plus chet didnt even dominate offensively In a VERY WEAK WCC LOW MAJOR CONFERENCE..... In still went 2nd, hysterical

Lively close to Chet (Holmgren)?. You've got to be kidding me. Lively doesn't have a quarter of Chet's offensive resources. The only thing they are alike in is that they are both thin.

@@alvaromartinez-cachero1231 chet is a rim running set screens versatile defensive big man..... That can barely shoot 3's...... Sounding more like DERECK to me lol.... Y'all do not know Ball

They're gonna have to trade up then. I can't see Lively falling past 17 at the absolute tops, and I don't think he should be there past 11.

I think you bring up some really interesting points that made me go back and watch Lively's tape again. The one caveat I'll add is that I don't think it's as easy anymore for NBA teams to truly get value from back-up, veteran bigs anymore. If anything, it's veteran wings/4s who turn into 5s now as they get older imo (Jeff Green, PJ Tucker, Serge Ibaka, Blake Griffin, etc. recently). Kessler was a better rebounder than Lively. I also think his draft stock got hurt a bit because he wasn't fed easy chances like Lively. Auburn's guards quite frankly just weren't facilitators. However, I think you're underrating Lively a bit. Keep in mind that he was coming back from a calf injury that affected his mobility at first & slowed his adaptation to the college game. Kessler was also in his second college season after it didn't work out at UNC, while Lively has played less than 650 minutes. With regards to the rebounding and hands (I think they're linked to some extent), I honestly think Lively has pretty secure hands. Like, he dunks everything and turnovers haven’t been an issue for him at all. He doesn’t fumble catches or boards, it’s just that he’s played relatively little. Lively’s so big that he can honestly just reach over the top anyways to get rebounds, but he has little floatovers, spin-arounds, etc. to pair with his motor. Maybe his technique isn’t always the cleanest, but I’m not a huge stickler for that if he’s being as productive. I agree Kessler is/was stronger than Lively now, but the latter is bound to get stronger once he's in the NBA and with a few off-seasons under his belt. Even now, I don't think you can get into his upper body and move him. It's Lively's lower body that's gotta get sturdier imo, so maybe you can box him out low but then the issue is that he's 7-1 who becomes 9-4 with his arms in the air. Tough to keep him off the glass regardless

On one hand I agree, as of today Lively is basically a rim protector on defense and a dunker on offense, but on the other hand I think big men are being undervalued in today's NBA and yet the big men in the last draft (Kessler, Duren and Mark Williams) have generally performed well. No one seems to want them, but they end up being useful in the end.

He moves better that Kessler and shows glimpses of developing an outside shot when he’s in high school. He’s definitely not a second rounder buddy

Good points, who are the centers you like?

And you were wrong about everything you said lmao

Check out my latest video on Noah Clowney. I think he could be an interesting target for the Warriors if they want a big

He was at the Lakers practice facility in El Segundo recently.

Let's see! The Blazers have targeted a similar archetype with their roster picks lately... sort of sleeper athletes with impressive high school track records like Anfernee Simons, Keon Johnson, or Shaedon Sharpe. Of this draft class, Leonard Miller fits that tee the most imo but he doesn't bring Portland any closer to competing NOW. I'm not sure Lively does either because of his offensive limitations, but he kinda fits that mold given his USA Basketball pedigree and injuries early on in the season. Even then, I'm not sure the pieces are there for Portland to compete in the short-term unless a major revamp takes place.

@@FloorandCeiling Dame's asking for a miracle. It ain't happening. Our best (and probably only) way forward is to continue building through the draft. At this point we need to add pieces that compliment Sharpe & Simons, not Dame. After this yr he makes $61 per for 2 seasons. Grant wants $40. Dame wants a trade for another 40 mil guy. So Dame $61, Grant $40, Ant $25, Trade $40. That's $165 for 4 guys that aren't title worthy (cause the trade guy won't be Giannis or Embiid). Move Dame to a contender he can hopefully win at. Rebuild around Shaedon, the 2023 top 6 pick, Ant, and whatever we get for Dame. Win win.

I mentioned in another comment that he would make sense for the Lakers because all he’d have to do is screen, roll, catch, finish, and dunk with LeBron, D’Angelo Russell, etc. Same idea would apply in Dallas with Doncic and potentially Kyrie if he stays. Also depends on how patient the Mavs are from this point forward if things go really poorly this season

@@FloorandCeiling True… And we just lost again. We need rebounding and shot blocking so badly. We’re last in the league in rebounding by a pretty bad margin.

🎯

@@alvaromartinez-cachero1231 I was HYPE when I got off work and saw we picked him.

I think Isaiah Jackson will play more minutes soon. He's a more explosive athlete than Lively, but I think he's also a less patient defender. I think Lively's role could be similar to Mitchell Robinson's, who has increased his time on the court every year - in a rigorous and demanding defensive system like Thibs'.

Mitchell Robinson can be a good reference.

I was confident that Jackson would have a bigger offensive role for the Pacers this season, but I haven't seen the expected development. In fact he's averaging almost 1.5 points less per game. Robinson is an interesting comparison, but my problem is that he's a player I don't like.

Lively’s fit makes a lot of sense with the Lakers playmakers and theoretically relieves AD of playing the 5 some in the regular season and then ideally long term. Thanks for watching!

We saw in the playoffs how effective the Lakers' defense can be with a big body next to AD. He was arguably the most imposing defender in the post-season. In this case, it was Hachimura or LeBron on Jokic with AD roaming. The potential is there for that to be even more effective down the line with someone like Lively, although I think his range is starting to look higher than #17.

Also makes sense on defense

Why would they do it when they have Okongwu?

@@myrdin9216 Okongwu's size will always make him questionable to be a full-time starting center. Very good player but maybe if his jumper improves he can be more of a hyrbid 4/5 in the future. And its not like he's a star center that should affect Atlanta's decision making in the draft.

The Blazers need much more than Lively to be a playoff team. In the last two trade deadlines under Cronin, the trade has been disastrous, always giving much more than they subsequently received. Portland has no contracts to put together this summer, having moved on from acquiring Wiseman, Hartenstein or McBride in exchange for draft picks. And what does this imply? That if in summer you want to do something important, probably have to say goodbye to Sharpe, Simons and/or Nurkic. In short, I see more and more impossible to build a winning team around Dame.

Thanks for watching. Lively would be the type of rim protector Portland sorely needs. In theory, he'd also be a good pick-and-roll partner for Dame down the other end of the floor. But I also think Lively's offensive development is really gonna take some time in the NBA. He's a monster defender in college, but even the best bigs have an adjustment curve in the NBA at first because it's a totally different game. With that, I'm not sure he fits Portland's (or Lillard's) timeline.

Thanks for watching! In terms of broad role, there's some similarities. The biggest one being that both Sims and Lively are bigs who aren't ever gonna be tasked with creating their own offenses, so they're very reliant on guards/playmakers to be productive. However, Sims was/is a much better athlete (one of the most explosive in the league to be fair), but Lively has better overall feel and defense.

Makes sense, maybe a bit too high as a top 10 pick, but could excel next to Luka and Kyrie (if he stays)

@@FloorandCeiling Absolutely I’d probably trade back and pick up maybe another 1-2 picks than draft him maybe before 20

As a rim protector and dunker he can certainly be more useful to Dallas than Collins.

🎯

Would be interesting tbh and he'd likely be in Golden State's range, but I feel like we've seen the past few years that the Warriors are probably better off (for now) keeping Looney, having Draymond as an option at the 5, and developing Kuminga to also play that position. Then, they usually have another vet backup like Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr. or now JaMychal Green who can pitch in with valuable frontcourt minutes. This is kind of a "it's not you, it's me" situation where other types of forwards/wings are better fits for the Warriors at the 5 instead of more traditional bigs.

@@FloorandCeiling then what you think who would they pick. (Expected)

He’s a Dallas maverick 🤣

@@FloorandCeiling yeah I think the Warriors would go for TJD over Lively

@@banimeclips10 How? The Knicks will likely get the Mavs pick.

They should imo. Perfect fit for them at #10.

🎯

He's much better at his role than Wiseman is, I think. Wiseman has more offensive upside though. Thanks for watching!

Fits next to Zion.

Would be interesting like I mentioned in another reply, but I feel like the Warriors should target a different type of forward. Thanks for watching!

Best defense in the league if lakers get him

It's true that the Lakers don't have that kind of player profile and he could be useful as a rim protector.