Dereck Lively II selected by Mavericks with 12th overall pick in 2023 NBA Draft
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia native and Westtown School product Dereck Lively II was selected by the Dallas Mavericks with the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Thursday night in Brooklyn.
The Mavericks selected Lively after making a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. According to The Athletic, the Mavericks sent the No. 10 overall pick and Davis Bertans for the No. 12 overall pick and a TPE.
Lively, a 7-foot-1-inch center, averaged 5.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game last season as a freshman at Duke University. He started in 27 of 34 games as the Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Lively was also named to the All-ACC Freshman Team and All-Defensive Team. He finished the season with 82 total blocks, five shy of the NCAA lead. The 82 rejections were the second-most by a Duke freshman in a single season and tied for 10th most by any player in program history.
CBS Sports had Lively ranked as the 14th best prospect in the 2023 draft and second best center, and that he's a "blend of Brook Lopez and Jaxson Hayes."
Lively is a rim-running big who serves as an alley-oop threat and has good help-defense instincts.
In high school at the Westtown School, Lively, a five-star recruit, ranked as the second-best prospect in the country in the 2022 class, according to 247sports.com. He was named the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022 and a McDonald's All-American.
As a senior, he led Westtown to a 31-7 record en route to winning the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association state championship.
Lively joins a list of several players over the past several years from the Westtown School that have turned pro.
In 2018, Mo Bamba, who now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, was selected in the first round by the Orlando Magic.
The following year, fellow Westtown product Cam Reddish, who now plays for the Portland Trailblazers, was picked by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
