07-28-2026, 12:12 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-28-2026, 12:13 PM by Scott41theMavs.)
(07-28-2026, 11:50 AM)Smitty Wrote: Then I don't think an extension is feasible. Just let him play out the year. Prove he can play 65+ games. See what offers he gets as a RFA, and decide if you want to match or not... Or do a SnT like the Kessler deal. Even at ~$12M AAV, he could end up being a negative value contract, if he continues missing so many games.
It's really a tough issue. If Lively becomes a healthy player with very rare injuries for the rest of his career, he's a top five big man in this league. His switchability on the perimeter defensively makes him a rare (big) bird indeed. And if they start letting him shoot the 3, and he can hit it consistently at 35%+, he has even more value. On the other hand, he might be Greg Oden. A healthy year this year might land him a $20 mil AAV offer sheet which the Mavs are leery (not "weary," folks - that means tired) of matching. Watch him become our next Brunson story - or watch the team who signed him fall into the abyss because they have that much money tied up in a guy who never plays.
To me, $12 mil AAV would be a no-brainer for the Mavs, if they have a competent medical staff who can sign off. That, DallasMaverick, is one of the main reasons I don't want them to settle for anything less than a top 5 medical staff.
And as a side note, you (DM) may be poo-pooing the idea that the Mavs' medical staff was abominable the past two years. Zero other folks in sports media and Dallas fandom is doing that. Perhaps it's because of the Lively debacle + the AD debacle + the fact that no other team had as many injury absences as the Mavs last year. Might be something to that, no?
Perhaps your agenda is having a family member on the medical staff. Or maybe you yourself are on the current medical staff. Hmmm...