Nonstop struggles of former guard shows Mavericks were right to ditch 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 just last June. This can be attributed to the Mavericks' struggles in the clutch as well as their lack of point-of-attack defense early on this season, and it's also clear that Dallas' talent they acquired over the offseason is taking longer to get fully acclimated than fans initially expected.

The season is no means defined by 12 games and the Mavericks have dealt with a myriad of injuries recently, but it's without a doubt that fans are concerned in regard to some of the Mavericks' moves over the offseason because of this slow start. Dallas chose not to pay Derrick Jones Jr. as much money as the LA Clippers offered, opting to give most of their mid-level exception to forward Naji Marshall this past offseason instead.

This move looks like it may hurt the Mavericks given the aforementioned deficiencies that they've had at the point of attack, as Jones Jr. is one of the more switchable on-ball defenders in the entire league. Dallas has struggled mightily with this issue with P.J. Washington out of the lineup recently, and it's becoming increasingly clear that the Mavericks may need another wing defender in their lineup to beat some of the better teams in the West come playoff time.

One player that wouldn't be helping the Mavericks with that problem nor is a player that Dallas should miss after letting go of him this offseason though, is none other than Josh Green.

Mavericks made smart move to trade Josh Green

Throughout four seasons with the Mavericks, Green developed steadily into a reliable transition playmaker as well as a decent perimeter defender when he wasn't too overzealous. Green's 3-point shot also saw improvement with the Mavericks, particularly in his third season with the team when he shot 40.5 percent from downtown.

However, Green barely improved upon his shot creation ability that we saw sprinkles of during his time in Dallas, and he had his inconsistencies in terms of his lack of aggression on potential dribble drives. Performances such as Game 5 of last year's NBA Finals showed some of the potential that Dallas saw in Green when they drafted him in 2020, but he ultimately never proved consistent enough for Dallas to retain him after four seasons.

When the opportunity to sign-and-trade for Klay Thompson was on the table for Dallas this past summer and they had to move a player to make the financial components of the deal work, Green was the first one off the chopping block, as 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 thus far. To make matters worse, Green has started eight of those contests, and he's still averaging a decent amount of minutes at 23.1 per game.

Green's inefficient play offensively speaks volumes to the spacing that he had in Dallas with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, as he's struggling immensely in the Hornets' system. He's also reverting back to some of his overzealous tendencies on defense, as he's averaging 2.9 personal fouls per game as well.

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