Dallas Mavericks Acquire Draft Rights to 12th Overall Pick Dereck Lively II

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have acquired the draft rights to 12th overall pick Dereck Lively II from Oklahoma City in exchange for the draft rights to 10th overall pick Cason Wallace and forward Dāvis Bertāns.

Lively (7-1, 234) was an early-entry candidate to this year’s draft after spending one season at Duke. In his lone season with the Blue Devils, he averaged 5.2 points (.658 FG%), 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game across 34 appearances. Lively was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and the ACC All-Defensive Team.

“We really love Dereck’s combination of size, shot blocking ability and defensive versatility,” General Manager Nico Harrison said. “As one of the youngest players in the draft we are looking forward to Dereck growing with the team and fostering his development.”

In his lone year at Duke, Lively blocked 82 shots – only five shy of the NCAA lead. With a 7-4 wingspan, he led all Division I freshmen in blocks and ranked second in the ACC (eighth nationally).

The Philadelphia native was ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the ESPN 100 for the class of 2022 as a five-star center out of Westtown School in West Chester, PA. He was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022 after leading Westtown to a 31-7 record and the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship in 2022.

Bertāns (6-10, 225) was originally acquired by Dallas along with guard Spencer Dinwiddie from Washington in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis and a second round pick on Feb. 10, 2022. He averaged 4.8 points and 1.6 assists in 67 games for the Mavericks.

Lively will wear No. 2 for the Mavericks.