Dallas Brought In Aldama, Cisse, and Powell. None of Them Is Lively.

The Mavericks opened Dusty May's first training camp this week without their starting center, and there is no firm timetable for when that changes. Dereck Lively II, nine months removed from foot surgery, is still working toward clearance for basketball activity. Dallas re-signed Dwight Powell as part of the camp roster, which tells you something about where the frontcourt depth conversation currently sits.

The pieces May does have up front are interesting without being proven. Santi Aldama, acquired from Memphis this summer, is a switchable 7-footer who fits the modern spacing game. Moussa Cisse is back after Dallas matched the Knicks' offer sheet. Washington remains the most reliable interior scorer on the active roster. That is a workable group — but it is a group assembled around the assumption that Lively would eventually anchor it, not replace it.

The broader camp picture is already complicated. I noted last week that May was opening without his starting center; what has sharpened since is that the Aldama and Kyrie Irving day-to-day designations add to the uncertainty at the top of the rotation. May is installing a new system with a roster he has never coached, missing his most important frontcourt piece, and working with several players whose availability is uncertain. That is a lot of variables for a first camp.

My read: the next few weeks are less about who wins the center job and more about whether May can get enough reps with his core group — Flagg, Marshall, Washington — to build something coherent before the season starts. Lively's timeline matters enormously, but it is not the only thing worth watching here.