Josh Green Growing Through Mistakes in 'Real Rookie Season' for Mavs

The Dallas Mavericks didn't see a lot of Josh Green last season, but he's making the most of his opportunities in his second year.

Josh Green still has a long way to go in order to live up to the hype that was bestowed upon him during the 2020 NBA Draft, but after enduring what many would consider a throw-away rookie season last year, it seems that he’s finally on the right path with the Dallas Mavericks.

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Luka Doncic and Josh Green share a moment.

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Josh Green guards Mike Conley.

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Josh Green drives on Herb Jones.

Green is still raw when it comes to scoring, but he’s proven on a handful of occasions that he can affect games by doing other things that are more refined for him, like playing great defense — both on and off-ball — hustling for offensive rebounds and showing off his underrated-but-flashy passing.

"I think he's taken full advantage of his minutes," said coach Jason Kidd after the Mavs defeated the Houston Rockets 113-100 on Friday night. With Dorian Finney-Smith out due to an arm contusion, Green filled in as a starter and finished with 10 points (4-of-10 shooting), six rebounds, four steals and two blocks in 36 minutes.

Without completely throwing former Mavs coach Rick Carlisle under the bus, it’s at least worth noting that he didn’t really allow Green to play through mistakes in order to properly develop. Although the argument can be made that last year's Mavs couldn't afford to endure many rookie mistakes, perhaps that was mostly due to Carlisle's offense-first approach. In Kidd's first year as head coach, the Mavs have morphed into being a really good defensive team, and that team identity seems to fit Green a lot better. Dallas is now more capable of living with occasional mistakes.

"He didn't get an opportunity to play a lot last year," said Kidd. "So this is kind of his [real] rookie season. His development, he's worked extremely hard. He has a great locker room of guys around him, helping him to have success. He's a good listener [and] he works hard."

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Josh Green finishes an acrobatic layup in the Mavs' 113-100 win over the Rockets.

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Josh Green defends Jimmy Butler in the Mavs' win over the Heat before the All-Star break.

Josh Green slams home a dunk in transition.

Green might not ever develop into being star player, but he has the physical tools and potential to be a phenomenal role player for the Mavs – and perhaps even starter one day. Although the 21-year-old is only averaging 4.5 points per game, he's already played nearly double the amount of minutes he did in his rookie season.

Last season, Green played a total of 445 minutes though 39 games. This season, he's played a total of 786 minutes though 52 games (with 15 games remaining). With his increased playing time, Green has also increased his overall shooting percentage from 45.2 percent last year to 50.8 percent this year. After shooting a worrisome 16 percent from 3-point range as a rookie, Green has shown improvement in that department as well, as he's shooting a more respectable 33 percent now.

When you have a bonafide superstar player like Luka Doncic on your team, the more big, athletic, multifaceted wing players you can surround him with, the better. Green has already shown in spurts how valuable he can be for Dallas even without having a refined jump-shot. If he can get that part of his game figured out, nights like Friday night against the Rockets will start to become more of the norm.

"Being able to start and give us almost 36 minutes [against Houston] was big," said Kidd. "It's just a part of his growth and his journey. He's just going to get better. He's going to make some mistakes because he's young, but his intent and his spirit is right."