Head coach Jason Kidd said over the weekend that he plans to start Lively at center in Thursday's preseason opener versus the Timberwolves in Abu Dhabi, Grant Afseth of SI.com reports.
Kidd didn't commit to Lively or Olivier-Maxence Prosper maintaining spots in the starting five heading into the regular season, but both rookie first-round selections will get the chance to stake claims to spots on the top unit. If Lively is able to established himself as Dallas' top center, he likely wouldn't be in store for much usage while sharing the floor with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but the 19-year-old could profile as an effective rim runner who converts the post touches he does receive at an elite rate. The 7-foot-1 Lively was also one of the NCAA's premier shot blockers during his lone season at Duke, swatting away 2.4 shots in just 20.6 minutes per appearance.