Mavericks should listen to rival before risky starting lineup change backfires

Besides some fine-tuning toward the tail end of their roster that likely won't be concluded until the end of training camp, the Dallas Mavericks' 2025-26 roster is practically locked in at this point. With the dog days of the NBA offseason vast approaching following Summer League, fans are constructing their own rotations and lineups of what they think their team will do next season, and this has been exactly the case with Mavericks fans this summer, especially since Dallas' roster is so intriguing.

A large point of contention between fans is over whether Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford should be Dallas' starting center next season. Lively II proved to be an elite rim protector in Dallas' 2024 playoff run, even better than Gafford, but Gafford's far more polished offensively and was far more durable compared to Lively II last season.

After Lively II just underwent offseason foot surgery, many Mavericks fans are thinking Gafford will likely start at the beginning of the season, but Dallas may need to take a bird's-eye view on this situation and look at other teams with similar situations to Dallas, such as the Atlanta Hawks. Until Clint Capela left to go back to the Houston Rockets this summer, Atlanta had two very similar bigs in Capela and Oneyka Okongwu, and head coach Quin Snyder saw far more success when he opted to shift to Okongwu to the starting lineup last season.

Mavericks should follow Hawks' model of starting the younger big

At 24 years old, Okongwu had his best season in the league last season and showcased how much more dynamic of an offensive player he is compared to Capela, but he wouldn't have had a breakout season to that effect had Snyder not unleashed him into the starting lineup.

Similar to Okongwu, Lively II has flashed far more potential than Gafford at times, but it just hasn't been there nearly as consistently as Gafford, and he obviously was injury-riddled last season. Heading into his third year now, Lively II could be poised for a monstrous season, especially since he's likely motivated as ever to prove doubters wrong after his injuries last season and could finally be unveiling his 3-point shot more consistently if given the leniency by Dallas' coaching staff.

The Mavericks must be smart when it comes to managing Lively II's foot rehab, and there's no question Gafford should start at the beginning of the season if Lively II still can't reach 100 percent after training camp, but head coach Jason Kidd should certainly consider starting Lively II if he's healthy once training camp starts.

Lively II may even work better next to Anthony Davis at the four on paper, especially if Lively II can space the floor at all next season, as Gafford is a big that is more dependent on post-up and face-up opportunities, whereas Lively II is a slightly better rim-roller. This would give Gafford an opportunity to feast on weaker bigs on opposing teams' second units, as one of Dallas' biggest advantages would be their ability to impose immense size and physicality on other teams through multiple different lineups.

Gafford probably wouldn't have any gripes with coming off the bench either, considering he's now getting paid starting center money, so long as Kidd still staggers him and Lively II heavily throughout the course of 48 minutes on a given night, as Gafford is still definitely needed. The Mavericks can't go wrong with starting either of Lively II or Gafford, but unlocking other facets of Lively II's game quicker by starting him could be something that is beneficial for his development and Dallas' championship aspirations for this season and beyond, as Lively II has the tools to be an All-Star one day.