Mavericks' nightmare season just got far worse after devastating injury update

The Dallas Mavericks' year just turned into even more of a disaster this morning, as it was announced that Dereck Lively II will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season due to needing surgery on his right foot.

Lively II's season will end with him playing just seven games, and the worst-case scenario with his foot actually happened. Fans feared that Lively II would miss the rest of the year after reports indicated that there was swelling and discomfort in that foot, and that pain clearly had not gone away.

He even went to get multiple different opinions when it came to what the best next step would be, and season-ending surgery was ruled as the best path forward for the third-year big man.

Dereck Lively II will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season

The issues with Lively II's foot began last season, when the Mavericks' medical staff misdiagnosed a stress fracture in his foot as an ankle sprain in January. He went through an entire return-to-play workout on this foot before the team ultimately elected to take another look, and it became clear that there was a stress fracture in his foot.

He then missed multiple months before returning at the beginning of April, but during the offseason, they ruled that he needed surgery on that foot to clean up bone spurs.

Before training camp, Lively II made a full recovery and had high hopes of remaining healthy and being a force for Dallas, but now, he is in the same boat once again. He is expected to be ready ahead of next year's training camp, and the Mavs' season just turned even more sinister than before.

Lively II has consistently been one of the Mavericks' most impactful players, especially defensively, even since he was drafted, and not having him for the rest of the season is a major loss. His ability to protect the rim and anchor a defense is incredible, and Dallas' frontcourt just keeps getting dealt massive blows.

Both Daniel Gafford and Anthony Davis have also battled injuries this season, and without Lively II for the remainder of the year, their center depth has reached critically low levels. This happened at the worst possible time, especially since Dallas has won four of their last five games, and it's going to be a massive challenge to completely turn their season around without their stud young big man.

The Mavericks are sitting at 9-16, just a half-game out of the Play-In Tournament, but this injury to Lively II may have been the cannonball that finally sinks the ship. They've fought hard through adversity all season long, and the probability of them making a deep playoff run, even once Kyrie Irving returns, is looking slim.

Dallas could shock the world and continue to string together wins and climb in the standings, but everything could change before the February 5 trade deadline. The Mavericks are actively exploring trades for Davis, Gafford, Klay Thompson, and D'Angelo Russell, and any move that involves Davis is a clear message that Dallas will enter a rebuild.

This may be what's best for the franchise to build around Cooper Flagg, as their season is looking grim without their star rim protector in the lineup for the rest of it.