Dereck Lively II's injuries should push Mavericks to make a pivotal trade soon

The Dallas Mavericks had a prime opportunity to take hold of their season series versus the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night, as superstar Kyrie Irving returned from a five-game absence due to a bulging disk in his back. Unfortunately for the Mavericks though, Irving looked very affected by his absence, and Dallas struggled to galvanize good looks on the offensive end all evening long en route to a 118-99 blowout loss.

The Mavericks have now gone 3-7 in the last 10 games without fellow superstar Luka Doncic in the lineup due to his calf strain. Dallas’ recent skid and offensive woes in the half-court were to be expected given all their recent losses in their lineup, but these struggles aren’t necessarily coming at the best time since we are roughly halfway through the regular season. The Mavericks have quietly slipped to a 22-18 record and they have a chance of falling out of the top eight seeds in the Western Conference soon if they can’t start to win some more games in this next juncture.

To add to the Mavericks' troubles with injuries, young big man Dereck Lively II sprained his right ankle in Dallas’ Tuesday loss versus Denver. Lively II has been instrumental offensively for the Mavericks recently, as his playmaking in the short roll and finishing in the post has been at another level compared to his rookie season.

This has led the Mavericks to outsource more of their offense to Lively II this season, especially in this recent stretch where they’ve lacked as many shot creators as they are accustomed to. Lively II’s x-ray earlier today came back negative, but he could still miss a significant amount of time depending on the severity of the sprain, and this couldn’t come at a worse time given how depleted the Mavericks already are.

Mavericks need to trade for another big because of Lively II's injuries

Lively II has already missed eight games this season due to a few minor injuries, and the 20-year-old center has only played in 75 percent of his career games through about a season and a half in the league. This is moderately discouraging considering how young Lively II is as well as how easy it is for big men to pile up multiple lower body injuries if they aren’t flexible enough or don’t have good landing mechanics, so the Mavericks definitely need to do whatever is in their power to help prevent Lively II from missing games as frequently as he has in his young career.

However, Lively II hasn’t suffered a major injury nor has missed a prolonged period of time yet, so these concerns from fans and media could be a little overblown. With that being said though, Dallas’ next stretch of games doesn't get any easier, and the Mavericks would be smart to look for another backup big man via trade given Lively II’s injuries this season.

Perhaps Dallas should look at Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart to bring in from a prospective trade, as Dallas registered interest in Stewart last season and Stewart has struggled to find his footing in Detroit’s rotation.

Whoever the player may be though, Dallas needs a stronger rim protector and rebounder compared to their current third-string center in Dwight Powell, as Daniel Gafford won’t be able to hold down the fort alone in Lively II’s absence.

Powell has proven to not be near as explosive as a player as compared to his younger days, and while he has an advanced knowledge of Dallas’ playbook and is a savvy veteran leader, his inclusion in Dallas’ rotation could make the Mavericks’ defense suffer tremendously in the non-Gafford minutes.

Whichever route the Mavericks go in terms of making a trade before this deadline is up to them, but Lively II’s injury only increases the impetus to trade for another bigman as well as the need to swap out Maxi Kleber’s contract.