Duke center Dereck Lively responds to the doubts about his offensive game ahead of NBA Draft

Former Duke center Dereck Lively II was one of the most dominant shot blockers in college basketball last season. Nobody knows that better than North Carolina center Armando Bacot, who struggled mightily during the Blue Devils’ 63-57 win over the Tar Heels on Feb. 4. Lively simply dominated the paint, swatting eight blocks and bringing down 14 rebounds in his team’s 63-57 win. His eight blocks were the most ever by a Duke player against the Tar Heels. On Thursday night ahead of the 2023 NBA Draft, Lively made sure to let everyone know that he’s ready to prove people wrong when they doubt his game on the offensive side of the floor.

“You know, no one believes I can shoot the ball. But we’re gonna prove them all this year. No one thinks that I have a high IQ. No one thinks that I have an offensive game at all. I can make reads. I can play out of the post, play out of the top. Play out of the pick and roll. Play off of DHO (dribble hand-offs),” Lively said on ESPN’s pre-NBA Draft coverage.

“So you know, you’ve got to just be able to be confident in yourself and you know, I’ve kind of just been building that confidence during this pre-draft. I’m just glad to be here and I’m just excited,” the 7-foot-1, 220-pounder said.

ESPN’s Dick Vitale recently projected Lively to be selected 10th overall in the draft by the Dallas Mavericks.

Lively still has plenty of things to work on the offensive end of the floor. He only averaged 5.5 points this year for the Blue Devils. His highest scoring game was a 13-point outing against the Virginia Tech Hokies on February 25th.

In this year’s NCAA Tournament, Lively became the just the third player in ACC history to record 10 rebounds and six blocks in his tourney debut. His dominant showing on the defensive end this year (averaging 2.4 blocks per game) earned him All-ACC Defensive team honors. He also landed on the league’s All-Freshman team, joining his fellow teammate, Kyle Filipowski.

Coming out of Westtown School (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania), Lively was the highest rated prospect in the country in the 2022 cycle. According to the On3 Industry Rankings, he was rated as the No. 1 overall player in America and a five-star prospect. While he’s certainly got plenty of room for improvement on the offensive end, he showed exactly why he was such a highly coveted prospect with his spectacular defensive performances during the 2022-2023 season.

Lively is ready to prove the doubters wrong, more on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move is on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until June 12 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.

The NBA Draft Lottery was held on May 16, which was also the start of the NBA Conference Finals.