ESPN’s Bobby Marks just dropped a bomb on what a Dereck Lively II contract extension could look like for our Dallas Mavericks, proposing a three-year, $35 million deal that’s got everyone buzzing. It’s got fans and the front office deep in thought about not just Lively, but other key pieces, like Max Christie, who are up for extensions. This isn’t just about dollars, it’s about the future of our squad, and what it means to keep the core together.
Dereck Lively II: The Injury Factor and the $35M Question
Marks laid out a specific offer for Lively: three years, $35 million. The first year’s $10.8 million salary is right there with the one-year qualifying offer Lively could snag next summer if no extension gets done. Year two? Fully guaranteed. Year three, though, is the kicker: it only kicks in if Lively plays at least 41 games in either the first or second season of the deal. Man, Lively is a tough nut to crack on an extension. If he was healthy and consistently out there, we’d be talking an annual salary starting with a ‘2’ or even a ‘3’ for sure. But, yeah, that hasn’t been the case, right? With Lively probably missing the start of the season, would he even take a deal in this range?
From the Mavericks’ side, this is practically a no-brainer. We’d be making a relatively small financial gamble on a player who, when he’s healthy, has shown he’s a starting-caliber center on a finals team. At $10.8 million in that first year, Lively would slide in as our eighth-highest-paid player, maybe ninth depending on what goes down with Christie. That’s a super manageable number for a guy with his ceiling. For Lively’s crew, though, it’s way more complicated. The appeal is obvious: guaranteed cash. He’d be giving up the chance to bet on himself and potentially hit next offseason as a much more expensive player. But in return, he locks in several years of guaranteed money while still being young enough to sign another huge deal in his prime if he stays healthy. It’s the ultimate security versus potential upside gamble for both sides.
Max Christie: Shooting Prowess and Extension Whispers
Max Christie has been dropping hints in training camp interviews that some extension talks have been happening, though nothing concrete yet. Remember when that trade we don’t even talk about went down? The Twitterverse spent the whole first month calling it the “Max Christie trade.” He’s had his share of ups and downs with us, no doubt, but he’s also flashed serious promise. Last season, the dude averaged a career-high 12.3 PPG, and get this, he was shooting 40% from deep on 5.8 attempts per game. That shooting alone is exactly what this Mavericks roster needs, badly! But what makes an extension interesting is tha
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Originally reported by Mavs Moneyball.
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