TRADE: Mavs trade 10+Bertans to OKC for Dereck Lively II

[Dundalis]

I agree. He is very much going to be like Tyson Chandler was with the Mavs. A dpoy candidate that is a huge lob and put back threat.

His D is legit. He has great anticipation. Really good motor and never stops moving his feet. He needs to work on setting screens better but he'll get it. His defensive awareness is really high. I've been watching a lot of footage of him and see what they like. He can guard perimeter or post. If he looses his man from the perimeter he has the length to make it up. Reminds me a lot of Jaren Jackson with that.

Where he will be very different from guys like Looney is his movement without the ball and rolling ability. Looney is a liability on offense because he isn't fast enough to roll and can't shoot from outside. Lively is a huge roll presence and lob threat. His skill set is a perfect fit in Dallas.

Actually feel like Jaren Jackson is a pretty good comp for him defensively. The rim protection is obvious, but lots of defensive center prospects have shown good rim protection. The pick and roll defense is what sells him to me. I know he still has plenty of areas to work on, but seriously, how many 7'0 prospects actually come out of the draft looking as good in PnR defense and defending out on the perimeter as he does? I'd hazard a guess the list is very very short.

He does have small hands for his size though (apparently 8.25 inches), so hopefully it's not a problem for him catching balls, he will be able to develop his rim running game just by virtue of being athletic, and 7'1 with a 7'7 wingspan. The 3 point shot developing is the cherry on top that gives you the glimpse that he could potentially be something more than just a defensive specialist.

But a DPOY candidate who scores 9-10 points a game purely from rim running is easily worth where we picked him for the guy who said he was a reach.