The 2024 Summer Olympics began this past weekend in Paris, France. When it comes to men’s basketball in the City of Light, NBA players have been suiting up for their countries, such as former Dallas Mavericks guard Josh Green for his native Australia. However, Green has been struggling through two games so far for Team Australia.
Green, who was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and raised in Castle Hill to an American-born father, Delmas, and an Australian mother, Cahla, is an Australian shooting guard and small forward. He played college basketball at Arizona from 2019 to 2020 before being selected 18th overall by the Mavericks in 2020.
The Mavericks traded Green to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a sign-and-trade to bring in Klay Thompson. Green’s price tag reportedly uninterested the Mavericks, who might have made the right decision to trade the 23-year-old to play with former Mavericks Seth Curry and Grant Thompson. Read on for further information.
Josh Green is scoreless so far for Australia
Green has been playing alongside his former Dallas Mavericks teammate Dante Exum, a point guard who has been in Dallas, Texas, since 2023. However, he has struggled in the first two games for Australia, going scoreless in 37 minutes off the bench. He attempted five shots but managed to collect five assists, while collecting two rebounds in Australia’s 93-83 loss to Canada on Tuesday, July 30.
Before Australia’s game against Canada, the former took on Spain on Saturday, July 27, and won by a final score of 92-80. But Green’s two performances for Australia thus far haven’t impressed the public. The former Mav will get another chance to rebound when Australia takes on Greece on Friday, August 2, at 6:30 a.m. Central.
Reasoning behind trade
Everything happens for a reason, and the Dallas Mavericks’ reason to trade Josh Green was arguably justified. Green appeared to be a promising young player at first and still appears to be one. He put his 3-and-D skillset on display and scored a postseason career-high 14 points during Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Mavericks and Boston Celtics on Monday, June 17.
Some, if not most, fans thought that the Mavericks would sign Green to a three-year, $41 million contract and use it to match other salaries. This turned out to be the case, as the Mavs did just that in the six-team sign-and-trade for Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson at the start of the 2024 NBA free agency.
Room for improvement
Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, Josh Green competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where he won a bronze medal. Australia blew out Slovenia 107-93 in the bronze medal game on August 7, 2021. As a result, Australia won its first-ever bronze medal in men’s basketball in Olympics history. The national team from here always does well on the international stage. Although never considered favorites, they always manage to be resilient and put up a strong fight, even against the best of rosters.
His inclusion in this Olympics shows what he can be capable of. Unfortunately, consistency has been an issue. Green may or may not be an NBA-caliber player, depending on who you ask. But there’s still time for him to rebound for Australia and then the Charlotte Hornets. He will play for a new team while keeping the same mentality. He’s still young, but his passing skills and his ability to get all of his teammates involved on the court signal that he can be locked in in his upcoming basketball games.
