Dereck Lively II’s new focus changes everything for the Dallas Mavericks

With the Dallas Mavericks being set to kick off training camp at the beginning of October, players are hard at work trying to polish their craft as the offseason comes to a close. While the last month or so has been fairly bland as far as NBA and Mavericks news is concerned, this offseason has flown by relatively quickly for the Mavericks, as they were playing all the way until early June last season after making the NBA Finals.

These final weeks of preparation before training camp will be essential for Dallas' players to ramp up into playing shape, especially since it was such a short summer. This period is arguably most important for Dallas' young players, as the biggest strides by young players are often taken in the offseason, even in one that is condensed more so than usual for the Mavericks.

One player for the Mavericks who is projected to take the biggest leap this offseason by most analysts and talking heads is none other than second-year center Dereck Lively II. Lively II showed future All-Star potential in his rookie season with Dallas last season and he has been attacking his offseason workouts relentlessly this summer, so him taking a leap in any facet of his game could pay huge dividends for the Mavericks next season.

Lively II becoming a paint beast would make the Mavericks unstoppable

As aforementioned, Lively II's been adamant about improving his game this offseason, as he recently had a great workout session with fellow Mavericks P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the University of Arkansas. Lively II also elected to stop in at his alma mater Duke University for a workout with fellow Duke basketball alumni, and he took the opportunity to shed some light on what he's been focusing on improving the most within his game.

"I'm working on this all offseason, I'm just trying to be more dominant when it comes to the paint," Lively II said. "Everyone wants to see me shoot, but i want to own the paint before i can shoot threes. I got some great teammates who can hit down shots, so i got to be able to conquer and control the paint."

While Mavericks fans want to see Lively II start bombing from distance this season, it may take some time for him to become a tried and true threat from outside, even though he shows a lot of promise in developing a jumper. However, Lively II honing in his focus on becoming a beast in the paint offensively is great news for Mavericks fans, as Lively II wasn't necessarily a player who looked for his own offense last season.

Lively II averaged 8.8 points per game in 23.5 minutes per game last season for Dallas, but if his offensive repertoire and his role both increase this coming season, it wouldn't be surprising to see those numbers bump up quite a bit. Lively II was a force to be reckoned with as a rim roller and clean-up finisher last season, but if he can add to his post-up and face-up game, he could be the perfect release valve for Dallas' offense against teams with shorter big men.

It's doubtful Lively II's offensive game becomes so dynamic that he is any sort of primary scoring option for the Mavericks, but Dallas doesn't need him to become that with how versatile their offense is already projected to be, so Lively II adding any sort of intricacy to his offensive game will only make the Mavericks that much more unstoppable on offense.