Nonstop battle from former guards shows Mavericks was right to dump him

The Dallas Mavericks have had a disappointing start to their season to say the least, as the Mavericks are currently 5-7 after making the NBA Finals last June. This can be attributed to the Mavericks’ issues in the clutch and their lack of offensive defense early this season. It’s also clear that Dallas’ talent they acquired in the offseason is taking longer to fully acclimate than fans initially expected.

The season isn’t defined by 12 games and the Mavericks have been dealing with numerous injuries as of late, but there’s no doubt that fans are concerned about some of the Mavericks’ moves in the offseason due to this slow start. Dallas opted to sign Derrick Jones Jr. didn’t pay as much money as the LA Clippers offered, opting to give most of their mid-level exception to Naji Marshall last season.

It seems like this move could hurt the Mavericks considering the aforementioned shortcomings they had at the point of attack as Jones Jr. is one of the more switchable defenders on the ball in the entire league. Dallas has struggled mightily with this issue recently with PJ Washington out of the lineup, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Mavericks may need another fullback in their lineup to beat some of the better teams in the West during the play- offs.

One player who wouldn’t help the Mavericks with that problem, and isn’t a player Dallas should miss after letting him go this season, is none other than Josh Green.

Over four seasons with the Mavericks, Green steadily developed into a reliable transition playmaker and a decent perimeter defender when he wasn’t overzealous. Green’s three-point shot also saw improvement with the Mavericks, especially in his third season with the team, when he shot 40.5 percent from downtown.

However, Green hardly improved his shot creation ability, which we saw sprinkles of during his time in Dallas, and he had his inconsistencies in terms of his lack of aggression on potential dribbles. Performances like Game 5 of last year’s NBA Finals showed some of the potential Dallas saw in Green when they drafted him in 2020, but ultimately he never proved consistent enough for Dallas to keep him after four seasons.

When the option to sign and trade for Klay Thompson was on the table for Dallas this past summer and they needed to move a player to make the financial components of the deal work, Green was the first off the chopping block because Dallas traded him to the Charlotte Hornets.

Despite Dallas’ lackluster start to the season, Green’s start to the season has been even worse, as the fifth-year guard has averaged 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds per game on 37.8/43.5/60.0 shooting splits through nine games with the Hornets so far. . To make matters worse, Green has started eight of those games and is still getting decent minutes at 23.1 minutes per game.

Green’s inefficient play speaks volumes offensively about the distance he was in Dallas with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, while he struggles mightily in the Hornets’ system. He’s also returning to some of his overzealous tendencies on defense, as he’s also averaging 2.9 personal fouls per game.

Green’s replacement valve in Quentin Grimes is also starting to emerge for Dallas, so needless to say, Dallas made the right decision to punt on Green when they did, even if it’s been tough sledding for the Mavericks so far .