Mavericks' unfortunate injury makes clear an urgent trade they can't ignore

Before Monday night's game against the Indiana Pacers, the Dallas Mavericks were hit with some injury news at the worst possible time.

Less than an hour before the game, the Mavs ruled out Dereck Lively II due to a right shoulder sprain. This was an injury that he suffered in warmups, and the Mavs weren't able to take advantage of the Pacers' injured frontcourt as Indiana defeated Dallas 134-127.

Lively II's presence was missed desperately as Dallas couldn't stop anyone in the paint. Plus, Myles Turner had a field day and finished with 30 points. Lively II's perimeter defense and quickness to close out would have helped limit some of Turner's open looks, and his injury revealed one trade that Dallas should make to help strengthen the roster.

Lively II's injury proves Mavericks need to trade for another center

Indiana dominated Dallas in the paint, and it's time for the Mavs to go out and trade for a third-string center to play behind Daniel Gafford and Lively II. The Pacers scored 76 points in the paint against the Mavs, and they seem to struggle every time that Lively II misses time due to injury.

This issue wasn't as prevalent after the trade deadline last season since the Mavs acquired Gafford, but Lively II still means more to Dallas than anyone could have expected when they drafted him last summer. He is quickly turning into one of the best defenders in the NBA game by game, and his importance to the Mavs and how they operate is mountainous as he fits perfectly into their scheme on both ends of the floor.

While Lively II's importance to the team was obvious after only a few games last year, he was still hit with the injury bug often. Lively II played in 55 games as a rookie, and if he is going to miss a considerable amount of games again this year, the Mavs have to go out and get a third guy who they can trust to play real minutes at the five.

That player is usually Maxi Kleber, but he too is out with an injury as he strained his right hamstring and is out indefinitely. Kleber is excellent in his role as the small-ball five when healthy and confident, but his availability over the last few years has been way down. Kleber has played 60 or fewer games in each of the last four seasons, and he combined to play just 80 games in the last two seasons combined. His injuries have been coming nonstop over the last few years, and they can't rely upon him too much anymore.

Dwight Powell has been fine in his minutes that he has been forced to play this season due to foul trouble and injuries, but they can't rely upon him to be the third center to play spot minutes all the time.

They need another big who can protect the rim, move his feet on the perimeter, and be satisfied with whatever role Jason Kidd assigns him. This player needs to be fine with having some nights where they don't play, but they also have to be ready to play big minutes in certain extreme situations such as injuries and foul trouble to the team's other bigs.

Finding a big who does all of these things may not be easy, but if Lively II is going to miss significant time, the Mavs need to have a backup plan to utilize when Lively II can't play. They could likely find a player like this for a cheap price, or they could explore the buyout market in a few months.

The Mavericks have not released a statement when it comes to Lively II's injury yet, but Kidd did reveal that he was due to get an MRI on it today. Dallas needs him back on the floor as soon as possible considering how bad their defense looked without him against the Pacers, and it may be a good plan to start considering moves to bring in one more big if they anticipate that he is going to struggle to stay healthy this season.

Many of his injuries were freak injuries last season, but that doesn't mean that the Mavs shouldn't be more safe than sorry. Lively II is too important to the team to not have someone behind him who can step up in his place when needed, and third-string center has quietly been an area that Dallas needed to improve for some time now.