Mavericks near Lively extension deadline with $7.2M final rookie year on the books
The Dallas Mavericks have until 5 p.m. CT on Monday, Oct. 19, to sign center Dereck Lively II to a rookie-scale extension, Dallas Sports Journal reported in a story syndicated by Yardbarker. Without one, Lively would play 2026-27 on the $7,239,131 salary in the fourth and final year of his rookie contract.
The two sides had held early-stage talks, according to the report, which describes no agreement. An extension signed before the deadline could run up to five years and would begin in 2027-28.
Lively has not been medically cleared and sat out all four preseason games, including Friday's exhibition against the Atlanta Hawks. The team announced Dec. 10 that he would have season-ending right-foot surgery and said then that he was expected to be available for the start of training camp.
Mavericks president Masai Ujiri said Oct. 9 that Lively had progressed to shooting and was working toward running on the court, per Dallas Sports Journal. Coach Dusty May said Oct. 11, before a preseason game in Macao: "There's just a return to play protocol that everyone goes through. It's a little bit unique, but he's in good spirits."
Lively has appeared in 98 of a possible 246 regular-season games over three seasons, according to the report. He played 7 games in 2025-26, the last on Nov. 21, 2025.
Per WAGE, that 2025-26 season returned a WAGE Score of 23, Under Water, on a $5.3M salary, a reading driven by the games he missed.
His salary ranked 244th of the 435 rated players last season and his production 367th, per WAGE, a reversal of 2024-25, when his production ranked above his salary.
Five members of the 2023 draft class have signed rookie-scale extensions, the report said, among them Amen Thompson at five years and $208 million with Houston and Brandin Podziemski at five years and $110 million with Golden State.
If the deadline passes, Dallas could make Lively a restricted free agent next summer by extending a qualifying offer, which would give the Mavericks the right to match any offer sheet. The qualifying offer amount has not been reported.