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Why Mavericks’ Dereck Lively II, Olivier-Maxence Prosper will miss summer league practices

Lively and Prosper made sure to get in their daily work before standing together on the sideline as the Mavs ended their first day of summer league practice.

The Mavericks gave two notable spectators a front-row view of their scrimmage during summer league practice Tuesday:

First-round rookies Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper.

Why weren’t Dallas’ most important newcomers involved?

Blame it on the NBA’s offseason calendar that requires teams to wait until the free agency moratorium ends July 6 to officially complete some trades.

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Lively and Prosper’s arrival connect to the same one.

On draft night, the Mavericks agreed with Oklahoma City to move down from No. 10 overall to No. 12 to offload Davis Bertans’ $17 million contract.

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Bertans’ departure opened a $17 million trade exception that the Mavs turned less than two hours later to absorb Richaun Holmes’ $12 million contract from the Sacramento Kings’ own salary dump and to accept the No. 24 pick rights to Prosper as incentive.

Lively and Prosper made sure to get in their daily work before standing together on the sideline as the Mavs ended their first day of summer league practice with 5-on-5 scrimmaging and set plays.

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Assistant coach Jared Dudley, who will be the Mavs’ head coach during summer league, said the rookie duo arrived for a 7:30 a.m. 1-on-0 workout Tuesday.

They can shoot and do cardio exercises — and lots of mental prep.

Dudley plans to lead Lively and Proper in film study sessions before the team leaves later this week for Las Vegas, where both rookies will join in the final practice and the team’s five games once the trade officially conveys.

“They get thrown into the fire fast, but listen — summer league, this is what you want,” Dudley said. “There will be more mental days than physical, and then they’ll have their five [summer league] games.”

The Mavericks’ summer league schedule starts at 2:30 p.m. July 8 on ESPN2 against, ironically, the Thunder, whose roster includes several players the team expects to make the regular rotation next NBA season.

Lively could team up against Chet Holmgren (the No. 2 overall pick in 2022) and Jalen Williams (the reigning Rookie of the Year runner up), while Prosper will face a backcourt that features Richardson native Cason Wallace (the rookie Oklahoma City landed at No. 10 in the Mavericks trade) and a handful of players two or three years into their NBA tenures.

“Obviously our two rookies, one of the best things about them is their athleticism and they can guard,” Dudley said. “But I mean, can you guard without fouling? When you’re tired, can you make the adjustments? When you know where to go but you’re a step slow — the difference between college and then NBA is when you’re a step slow, that’s the difference between a made and a missed shot.”

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