Where should Dereck Lively II be drafted in 2026-27?

The No. 192 player on the 2026-27 projection, up from No. 248 in 2025-26. Availability is the question: 7 games last season, 50 projected.

How many games will Dereck Lively II play in 2026-27?

Our projection has him at 50 games, after 7 last season.

DAL

Dereck Lively II

Dallas Mavericks · C · Age 22 · 7′1″

Rankings Sam Merrill Jusuf Nurkic

Rank#192C #51 · of 233

Value-0.8079-cat, per game

$ Max value$0

Games5022 min a game

Rostered6.2%ESPN leagues

Fantasy outlook

The No. 192 player on the 2026-27 projection, up from No. 248 in 2025-26. He is top 25 in field-goal percentage among rotation players; the cost is free-throw percentage at 63.1%. Availability is the question: 7 games last season, 50 projected.

Stats over time

Falling: down 2 seasons in a row.

Last season4.3

3-season average7.3

Trend a season−2.3

2026-27 proj.8.9

Up and down: between 4.3 (2025-26) and 8.8 (2023-24).
Per 36 minutes: 13.5 in 2023-24, 9.4 last season, on 23.5 → 16.4 minutes: the change is mostly his playing time.
The projection (8.9) is above anything in his last 3 seasons.

PTS rank among rotation players

23-24#203of 24724-25#212of 26625-26–of 27226-27*#202of 213

Per game, from ESPN box scores. * Our 2026-27 projection, dashed.

Season by season

Season	Rank	Value	GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FGM/FGA	FT%	FTM/FTA	TO
2026-27Proj.	192	-0.807	50	22	8.9	7.5	2.5	0.6	1.6	68.0%	3.8/5.5	63.1%	1.3/2.1	1.2
2025-26	248	-0.483	7	16	4.3	5.3	1.9	0.6	1.6	61.1%	1.6/2.6	80.0%	1.1/1.4	1.4
2024-25	125	-0.116	36	23	8.7	7.5	2.4	0.6	1.6	70.2%	3.7/5.3	63.0%	1.3/2.0	1.1
2023-24	154	-0.372	55	24	8.8	6.9	1.1	0.7	1.4	74.7%	4.0/5.4	50.6%	0.8/1.5	0.9

Category profile · 2026-27

PTS

8.9#202 of 213-0.89

3PM

0.0#210 of 213-0.85

REB

7.5#83 of 213-0.24

AST

2.5#149 of 213-0.49

STL

0.6#202 of 213-0.55

BLK

1.6#31 of 2130.41

FG%

68.0%3.8/5.5#16 of 2130.55

FT%

63.1%1.3/2.1#197 of 213-1.04

TO

1.2#35 of 2130.49

Rank among rotation players (20+ minutes, 20+ games). Colour is the value in the category, as in Rankings.

Team role · Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks starter at C, with Daniel Gafford behind him. 208 minutes a night of the 2025-26 rotation left, most of it Anthony Davis, Brandon Williams, and Klay Thompson; Kyrie Irving is the arrival projected for the most minutes (33).

C

Left since 2025-26

Anthony Davis31 min → WSH
Brandon WilliamsSigned by GS Aug 2622 min → GS
Klay ThompsonWaived Aug 2122 min → MIA
Marvin Bagley III21 min → DEN
Khris MiddletonAcquired by WSH Jul 821 min → WSH
Ryan NembhardAcquired by CHA Sep 2220 min → CHA
D'Angelo RussellAcquired by MEM Jul 819 min → MEM
Dwight Powell14 min
Tyler Smith14 min
Jaden HardyAcquired by LAL Jul 713 min → LAL
AJ JohnsonAcquired by NO Sep 810 min → NO
Minutes a night208

Arrived

Santi AldamaAcquired Jul 828 min from MEM
Zaccharie Risacher22 min from ATL
Jett Howard13 min from ORL
Marcus SasserAcquired Jul 812 min from DET
Kyrie Irvingnew
Sergio de LarreaSigned Jul 3new
Tarik BiberovicSigned Jul 10new
Tobi LawalSigned Jul 3new
Morez Johnson Jr.new

Depth chart from ESPN. Who left and arrived: last season's box scores against today's roster; how and when: ESPN's transaction feed, where it lists the move. Minutes are last season's, per game. Dallas Mavericks depth chart

Season	Team	GP	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FGM/FGA	FT%	FTM/FTA	TO
2025-26	DAL	7	16.4	4.3	5.3	1.9	0.6	1.6	61.5%	1.6/2.6	78.6%	1.1/1.4	1.4
2024-25	DAL	36	23.1	8.7	7.5	2.4	0.6	1.6	69.8%	3.7/5.3	65.0%	1.3/2.0	1.1
2023-24	DAL	55	23.5	8.8	6.9	1.1	0.7	1.4	74.1%	4.0/5.4	46.7%	0.7/1.5	0.9

Box-score averages from ESPN.

Dereck Lively II in fantasy basketball

The outlook above is written from our 2026-27 projection and his recent seasons, and changes with every projection run. His Value and ranks are the same numbers Rankings shows.