Overview
- Reports on Thursday said Lively has not been medically cleared to join Dallas’s training camp as he continues to recover from a December right‑foot surgery.
- Team sources describe him as “ramping up” toward basketball activity and say there has been no new setback, but the club has not set a date for clearance.
- Persistent right‑foot problems have limited Lively to 43 games over the past two seasons and required multiple procedures, including bone‑spur removal in July 2025 and a season‑ending operation in December 2025.
- Dallas can lean on frontcourt options such as Daniel Gafford, Santi Aldama and rookie Morez Johnson Jr. to cover minutes while Lively rehabilitates.
- Lively’s uncertain timeline complicates negotiations on a rookie‑scale extension that must be completed by Oct. 19 and raises durable‑player questions for a franchise building around Cooper Flagg.