By: Nicholas Gilanfar
The NBA season approaches on Tuesday October 24th, the deadline for teams to reward extensions to impending free agents is on October 23rd. After the Mavericks went to work this offseason on putting together a rejuvenated roster amidst a turnaround season, there was one more domino that needed to fall into place and that was extending Josh Green as he would be a free agent at the end of the 2023-24 season. After many concerns the deal would not be done, it has been officially reported by Adrian Wojnarowski that the Dallas Mavericks and Josh Green have come to terms on a 3-year $41 million contract extension.
After the 2020 bubble season, the Dallas Mavericks were on pace to construct a championship roster marking the end of a three year rebuild after their postseason berth against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Mavs ended up losing the series in six games, but things were looking good at the time as the draft came up shortly after. Dallas held the 18th overall pick in the 2020 draft, with their selection they chose Josh Green from Arizona as he averaged 12 pts, 2.95 Rbs, and 2.6 asts, in his only year in college at Arizona.
2020 was not your ordinary year for college prodigies to make the next step to the pros as the pandemic provided bumps and bruises as the college basketball season was cancelled reducing the season as well as cancelling March Madness which is known for putting players on the map. With the Mavs picking Josh Green at 18, not many people were notable of his game as scouts were starting to label him as a long-term project who could exceed the expectations of a solid role player down the line.
Each season Green has played, he has gradually gotten better and less overwhelmed. In his rookie year, he remained healthy for the entire season as former Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle was still there. Over the years Carlisle was never keen on putting rookies in the rotation right off the bat. Rick’s way was for these rookies to observe on the bench and understand the way his teammates play, that way he can plug in to see what his style of play can bring to a future contender in the Dallas Mavericks. Green appeared in 39 games that season logging an average of 11.4 minutes a game while putting up 2.6 points, two rebounds and 0.7 assist a game.
In Green’s second year many changes were made at the coaching front as Rick Carlisle resigned as the Head Coach after 13 seasons and brought in NBA hall of Famer and Dallas Mavericks Legend, Jason Kidd to be the new bench boss. When Kidd arrived in Dallas as the head coach it was clear that he had a plan for Josh Green and that was to get him involved on the defensive end as he really learned to get out of his shell and be aggressive on the defensive end. Green’s minutes increased to 15.5 as he played 67 games out of 82 and averaged 4.8 pts, 2.4 rebs, and 1.2 asts. After an underwhelming rookie year for Green, it was evident that the Mavericks were inches closer to unlocking the high potential of Josh Green.
As for last season, Green blossomed in the Mavericks lineup as he was finally granted a spot in the rotation as he brought a whole new energy to the Dallas rotation. Green’s minutes increased to a career high at 25.7 minutes as he was heavily relied upon down the stretch of the season. After the first half of the season the Dallas Mavericks decided to play an aggressive hand at the trade deadline and trade for Nets super star PG Kyrie Irving in exchange for starting PG Spencer Dinwiddie and Starting SF Dorian Finney Smith. That move forced Irving to start at PG and Green to start for Finney Smith at SF. If the Mavericks brass was not confident in Greens ability as a starter the deal would not have been made. The Mavericks unfortunately ended up missing the playoffs as Green’s play started to dwindle as s starter but still finished the year averaging a career high 9.1 points, three rebounds, and 1.7 assists a game.
Coming into year four, Green has the opportunity to make another significant jump in his play as he is likely to start for the opening game against the San Antonio Spurs after a solid preseason closer against the Detroit pistons where he had 22 points shooting 67% from the field and 80% from the three-point line. Green in 2022-23 shot 40.2% from the three-point line as so far in the preseason he shows himself as a vital three and d threat which is what the Mavericks need coming into the new season.
Photo Via Cam Cobey/NBA.com