Josh Green's Mavs Future: Core Roster Piece or Trade Bait?
After a rather disappointing season, the Dallas Mavericks face a summer of franchise-altering decisions in hopes of bouncing back from a playoff-less season. As Dallas attempts to build a contending team around Luka Doncic, a checklist of offseason decisions includes the future of Mavericks guard Josh Green.
In Green's third season in Dallas, he finally took the leap from being a raw, talented wing to a legitimate rotation piece who can contribute on both ends of the floor. In 60 games, which included 20 starts, Green averaged a career-high 9.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on 53.7 percent shooting from the floor and 40.2 percent from 3-point range in just under 26 minutes per game.
Green's growth was essential for coach Jason Kidd's rotation, especially with the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith on the defensive end of the floor. But, it was on the offensive end where Green's ascension proved most valuable, as his reliable 3-point shooting and ability as a secondary ballhandler and playmaker outside of Doncic and Kyrie Irving provided much-needed depth for Dallas in that department.
As for Green's contract situation, he's entering the final year on his rookie deal and is eligible for an extension starting this offseason. If not extended, which would come as a surprise unless Green opts to bet on himself, he would enter restricted free agency next summer.
For the Mavericks to part ways with Green this summer, Dallas would need to be acquiring either an upgrade in his role or the anchor in the middle that the Mavs have been seeking for quite some time. With that said, Green seems like a piece that Dallas would like to keep going forward, and a lack of young, cost-efficient talent on the roster is apparent, so expect to see No. 8 back with the Mavs going into next season.
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