Josh Green's Mavs Future: Core Roster Piece or Trade Bait?

With a crucial offseason rapidly approaching for the Mavericks to put a contending roster around Luka Doncic, DB.com analyzes Josh Green's future in Dallas.
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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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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.