When the NBA announced the all-rookie first and second teams on Monday, one thing stood out.
The only player among the 10 on the two teams that’s still playing is Mavericks’ center Dereck Lively II.
As he said Monday afternoon, that means more to him than any award.
“They (voters) are going to look in the regular season of who’s making the most noise, who had the most eyes on them,” Lively said. “But no matter if I have 10 points, 10 rebounds, 10 blocks or zero points, zero rebounds, zero blocks, zero assists, I just want to win.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m first-team all-rookie, I don’t care about all that. I just want to go out there and get the W.”
So far, that’s what he’s done.
And the Mavericks winning 50 games this season no doubt helped Lively’s cause as he was the sixth-leading vote-getter from the media panel.
“Coming into my first season, I never imagined my season would be like this,” he said. “I never imagined the position I’d be in or to have this much success. So I’m grateful. And I’m just trying to focus on what we have going forward.”
Below is the official news release from the Mavericks announcing Lively’s selection.
DERECK LIVELY II SELECTED TO NBA ALL-ROOKIE SECOND TEAM
DALLAS – The NBA announced today that Mavericks center Dereck Lively II has been named to the 2023-24 NBA All-Rookie Second Team. He becomes the first Maverick to earn All-Rookie Team honors since Luka Dončić in 2018-19.
Lively (7-1, 230) averaged 8.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 23.5 minutes per game in 55 games (42 starts) for Dallas this season. He became the first rookie in Mavericks history to record at least 1.4 blocks per game and the third Mavericks rookie to record at least 77 blocks in his debut season (Sean Rooks, Roy Tarpley).
Among all rookies in 2023-24, Lively ranked third in total rebounding (6.9 rpg), second in offensive rebounding (2.5 orpg), fourth in blocks (1.4 bpg) and led all rookies in field goal percentage (74.7 FG%).
The Philadelphia native recorded the highest field goal percentage by a rookie in NBA history (min. 100 field goal attempts). Of players who have attempted at least 250 field goal attempts, Lively has the second-highest field goal percentage in NBA history, behind Mitchell Robinson’s 76.1 FG% in 2021-22.
Drafted 12th overall out of Duke University, Lively ended the season with eight double-doubles and tied Scoot Henderson for the fourth-most double-doubles among rookies this season (Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, Amen Thompson), despite playing the least amount of games of any rookie with eight-or-more double-doubles (55).
Lively became the first rookie in the shot-clock era to notch 20 points and 15 rebounds on perfect shooting after his 20-point (9-9 FG), 15-rebound performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder (12/2/23). In his debut, Lively notched 16 points (at SAS, 10/25/23), the most points by a Mavericks rookie reserve in his debut.
The 20-year-old recorded a block in the first nine games of his career, marking the first time in franchise history that a rookie started the season with nine straight games with at least one block. He joined Ron Tarpley as the only rookies in Mavericks history to garner seven blocks in a game (7 vs. OKC, 12/2/23).
Lively joins Dennis Smith Jr. (2017-18), Yogi Ferrell (2016-17), Marquis Daniels (2003-04) and Josh Howard (2003-04) as the only players in Mavericks history to garner NBA All-Rookie Second Team honors. Overall, it marks the 11th time in team history that a Dallas player has been named to an All-Rookie Team.
The voting panel selected five players for the First Team and five players for the Second Team at any position. Players received two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote.
Lively was originally selected by Oklahoma City in 2023 NBA Draft, before having his draft rights traded to Dallas in exchange for the draft rights to Cason Wallace and Dāvis Bertāns.
X: @ESefko
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