3 Studs, 2 duds from Mavericks' 132-125 loss to Bucks

4. Dud - Josh Green

After a promising 2022-23 season, Josh Green has looked pretty dull offensively early on for Dallas to start the season. Green shot just three field goals last night in just a smidge under 20 minutes.

It’s hard to diagnose exactly what is leading to Green’s struggles on offense, but general confidence might be part of the issue. Green has attempted just 10 field goals over the past three games, and his willingness to take advantage of offensive opportunities seems to fluctuate on a game-by-game basis.

Green had a few opportunities to try and showcase his dribble-drive ability in one-on-one scenarios as well as in fast-break situations last night, but the newly extended 23-year-old guard played pretty reserved offensively.

Green also had another so-so-defensive game, as he continued to show some good intensity on-ball, but also showed an equal amount of errors on defense where he was lackadaisical off-ball or was too reactive when defending head-up.

Green finished the game with a -27 on the night, and despite single-game plus/minus not necessarily being the optimal stat to tell the whole story of how well a player fared, it was pretty emblematic of how Green impacted the game in his 19 minutes and 44 seconds last night. Green is going to need to return to form soon, as he’s only had four games where he has scored more than seven points through 13 contests for Dallas.

Mavericks fans haven’t been keen on Green’s performance to start the season, and have already been piling up receipts after Green was poised for a potential breakout season.

Green still has plenty of time to turn things around in Dallas, but at this current rate, Dallas may opt to play Dante Exum more in Green’s role as he’s shown much more dynamism on offense. If Green’s role in Dallas becomes diminished then the Mavericks could very well look to trade him en route to bolstering their depth elsewhere, so we’ll continue to closely monitor how Green continues to play.