Getty Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and head coach Jason Kidd
After missing the playoffs in 2023, the Dallas Mavericks will be looking to redeem themselves in 2024, hoping to become a title contender. Dallas will depend heavily on their All-Star tandem of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, as well as the addition of former Boston Celtics star Grant Williams. But one name that has flown under the radar is their budding guard, Josh Green.
As the Mavericks prepare to enter training camp in the coming weeks, Green tells Dallasbasketball.com that his goal for the 2024 season is to have more of a defensive impact for his team.
“I want to be able to be a bigger defensive presence next year for the Mavs,” Green said. “I think this is a perfect time to try. I think I’ll be in pretty good shape from picking out full court every game.”
Josh Green Credits FIBA for Offseason Improvement
Some players spend their summers working on their games with personal trainers. But Green spent the NBA offseason playing in the FIBA tournament for the Australian National Team. However, the Mavericks guard does not want that to get misperceived as him being selfish.
His ultimate goal in the tournament was to help his team win. But playing against high-level competition has naturally helped him elevate his game.
“Realistically, I’m here to win, so I’m not going to be working on my personal game,” Green added.
“Whatever I have to do to be able to win the game is what I’m going to do. It’s a little bit different of a game than the NBA, but at the same time, if I’m just out there trying to win, I feel like I’ll improve my game just like that.”
Josh Green’s Coaches Rave About His Development
Green had a breakout season in 2023, averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, and assists. He also shot a scorching 40.2% from three-point range, up from 35.9% the previous season. Peter Patton, who was the Mavericks shooting coach in Green’s first three seasons, detailed the keys to the rising guard’s improved shooting.
“Josh is a very, very good athlete that really needed to understand his body and his biomechanics. The first thing we tried to work on was just really how his stance was. We started from the ground up. We wanted to make sure that his knees weren’t collapsing,” Patton said to Sports Illustrated.
“Then we worked on his hand placement on the basketball and just really teaching him his own shot. A lot of guys know how to shoot, but lot of guys don’t know their shots. Josh became a student of his own shot.”
Brian Goorjian, Green’s head coach on the Australian National Team, has also taken notice of Green’s development and had high praise for the Mavericks’ training staff.
“I saw when we came back from camp, the guy that I met for the first time a year ago and the player that came into camp the first couple of days, I told him, I said, ‘I was so proud of the development,'” Goorjian said to Sports Illustrated.
“Full credit to the Dallas Mavericks and what they’re doing with their youth, because he came in just a much better basketball player than [he], was in Tokyo the last time. You’re just seeing a glimmer of what’s coming.”