Mavericks' ruthless injury curse persists with shocking Dereck Lively II news

It's an open secret that the last season for the Dallas Mavericks was derailed and ultimately lost due to a severe number of injuries to star and role players throughout the whole year. What began to look like early-season struggles that would need to be rebounded at the end of the year in an attempt to make the playoffs ended up being a tumultuous season that saw plenty of change within the franchise.

While drafting Cooper Flagg and acquiring a stopgap point guard were some of the Mavericks' main points of concern this offseason, Dallas also understood that they needed to get healthier and last the length of the full 82-game schedule, on top of the playoffs. With this in mind, it was recently reported by Mar Stein that Dereck Lively II underwent foot surgery to clean up bone spurs, and the hope is that he will be fully healthy by the time training camp begins.

Lively II returning to basketball activities after being in a boot much of last season, no doubt, puts a smile on fans' faces. Still, his recent surgery shines light on Dallas' ongoing injury battles despite the big man getting healthier.

Lively II's injury news shines light on continuous Mavericks problem

Early on Tuesday afternoon, it was announced by Stein that Lively II underwent a successful surgery to clean up bone spurs on his foot. While this is the type of news that isn't alarming, considering it's going to help out in the long run, Lively II's injury shines light on an already persisting problem within the Mavericks' organization.

Stein would later go on to add that Lively II is now walking without a boot on his foot and that the Mavericks fully expect him to be healthy before the start of training camp in September. Stein also wrote that the Mavericks were hoping to avoid an offseason surgery for Lively II, but it was clear it became a need after only playing in 36 games last season.

Getting Lively II back before the beginning of training is without a doubt a huge addition to Dallas' presumptive starting five; however, this adds to an already long list of injuries that the third-year big man has suffered.

Lively II has now been added to the injury list alongside Anthony Davis, who suffered a detached retina at the end of last season and who has already received surgery to repair his eye. In addition to Davis and Lively II, Kyrie Irving will miss much of next season with a torn ACL, despite promising reports of his rehab process going better than anticipated.

The anticipation is that both Lively II and Davis will be ready by the start of training camp; however, the Mavericks must remain cautious at the beginning of the season and cannot fall into the same injury trap they fell into last season. Much of Dallas' season hinges on how healthy the team is throughout the year, and making sure players get offseason surgeries is one way the Mavericks can ensure they will be fully healthy by the start of next year.

While this is an unfortunate reality the Mavericks are facing, this was the gamble Nico Harrison took when he traded Luka Doncic for Davis at the trade deadline last season. It might be a grim reality, but the Mavericks will continue to face injury problems and will constantly run the risk of their season hinging on a few players' health throughout the year.

Getting Lively II back and fully healthy is a huge addition to the roster, but the Mavericks need to ensure he can be ready for most of next season if they hope to compete for a championship in the near future.