The Dallas Mavericks are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They are riding a five-game winning streak, which is tied with the Golden State Warriors for the current longest in the league. Things are certainly looking up in Dallas, who was one of the big winners ahead of the trade deadline.
Looking to bolster their frontcourt rotation, the Mavericks made two trades. One was with the Washington Wizards, acquiring center Daniel Gafford. The second was with the Charlotte Hornets, acquiring P.J. Washington.
To get those deals done, the Mavericks needed to get creative. To acquire Gafford, the Oklahoma City Thunder were recruited as a third team and Dallas offered a future swap to acquire a 2024 first-round pick to get the deal done.
Because of a protected first-round pick the New York Knicks own from the Mavericks, Dallas had only one first-round pick they could trade. That selection was used to land Washington from the Hornets.
One reason Dallas had to get so creative was their reluctance to include Josh Green in any trade talks. Green had been involved in some NBA rumors earlier this season but has become an integral part of Jason Kidd’s rotation, someone the team deemed untouchable ahead of the deadline.
His skill set is one that fits perfectly around ball-dominant players such as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Green is a 3-and-D kind of player, averaging 9.1 points per game while connecting on 40.4 percent of his 3-point attempts, which would be a career-high.
In the last 15 games, Green has taken his performance to another level. According to NBA University on X, he is leading the league with a 47.7 3-point shooting percentage from the corner.
When combined with his 74.4 percent shooting at the rim, Green is one of the most efficient players in the NBA over the last month or so. He has a 64 true shooting percentage and is averaging 12.5 points per game.
Doncic and Irving generate a ton of open looks in the corners with how much attention they draw from opponents. Their teammates have to take advantage of those situations and Green has been over the last 15 games.
That performance has helped the Mavericks start climbing the Western Conference standings. While they are still in eighth place, Dallas is only one game behind the fifth-place New Orleans Pelicans. If Green can continue this shooting pace, it will only be a matter of time until the Mavericks are outside of the NBA Play-In Tournament and securely within a top-six seed.
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