The Mavericks have exercised the third-year rookie scale team options on center Dereck Lively and combo forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Dallas revealed (Twitter link).
The two players now have guaranteed contracts through at least the next two seasons, with Lively assured of earning $5.25MM in ’25/26 while Prosper will make $3MM.
[RELATED: Decisions On 2025/26 Rookie Scale Team Options]
Though both were first-round draft picks last summer, there was a significant difference between the roles the two rookies played on the Finals-bound Mavericks in 2023/24.
A 7’1″ big man out of Duke, Lively was the No. 12 overall pick and played regular minutes in the Mavs’ frontcourt from day one. Though he didn’t close the year as the team’s starting five, he made 42 regular season starts and was arguably just as important as veteran Daniel Gafford.
Both Gafford and Lively are athletic, rim-rolling big men with high motors who became easy lob partners for All-Star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Across 55 regular season bouts as a rookie, Lively averaged 8.8 points on 74.7% shooting from the field, plus 6.9 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and 1.1 assists per night. He contributed 7.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 1.0 BPG off the bench in 21 playoff games.
Prosper was drafted with the No. 24 pick out of Marquette, but didn’t emerge as a rotation piece for Dallas in his first year. The 6’8″ forward appeared in just 40 contests for the Mavericks, averaging 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 8.4 minutes per game.
Not a shock on any level. Mavs should be competitive for a few seasons