Thunder rising star makes bold prediction for Mavericks guard Josh Green

The Mavericks have been plagued by a string of unfortunate events ever since they wrapped up their international preseason trip that amassed more than 17,000 miles.

Dallas suffered injuries to star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving on the trip, and although things are starting to turn the corner for Irving who was a full participant in Tuesday's practice, Doncic’s availability for the Mavericks' season-opening game against San Antonio on October 25 is still up in the air.

To make matters worse, two of the Mavericks' promising young rotation pieces were injured during the last two practices Dallas has had since they’ve been back home.

Josh Green injured his back on Monday and Jaden Hardy sprained his ankle on Tuesday.

All of these events are extremely ill-timed for Dallas, who would definitely like to have the full complements of their roster in what will be an assumed dress rehearsal against Detroit on October 20 in Dallas for the Mavericks' final preseason game.

Dallas has started 0-3 in the preseason and is far from establishing a set rotation with injuries seemingly interrupting any sort of continuity that they've tried to instill. However, it's still very early on and the NBA is a vast unpredictable realm, so fans shouldn't get too doom and gloom just yet.

Until we have a better understanding of how all the pieces on the Mavericks roster fit together as well as how much these injuries will affect the team heading into the season, we can't lose track of some of the positive things that came out of this summer for Dallas even though they've dealt with a rough start in training camp and preseason.

Among the positive things that transpired over the summer for Dallas were Josh Green's offseason workouts and his FIBA World Cup with the Australian National team.

Green solidified himself as one of Australia's most prominent defensive wings in this summer's World Cup as he started almost every game for the Boomers whilst averaging 8.2 points per game and 1.6 steals per game in just under 20 minutes per game (not including preparation games).

He turned the heads of many players and coaches on the Australian national team in regard to how prolific he was offensively compared to when he last played with the national team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Among those enamored with Green's play over the summer was fellow countryman and rising star from the Oklahoma City Thunder, Josh Giddey.

In a promotional interview for NBA 2K24, Giddey listed Green as most likely to win the NBA's Most Improved Player Award this upcoming season.

The optimists laying in all of us as Mavericks fans certainly see a pathway to this coming into fruition, but Green's placement in the Mavericks rotation as well as how efficiently he plays on both sides of the ball this year will be determining factors in whether or not he can make a run at the Most Improved Player Award this upcoming season.

Green improved steadily across the course of last season, taking on a more featured role in the rotation whilst shooting a career-high 40 percent from 3-point range. He's gotten better every season he's been in Dallas, and could've even had a better season than he did last year if it weren't for injuries and late-season offensive inconsistencies.

Green is certainly building up a lot of momentum for himself to have a breakout season, but the Mavericks have a big decision to make with the October 23 deadline.

Will they extend Green's current contract or let him play it out and become a restricted free agent next summer?

With the deadline being under a week away, things could get rocky for Green and his future in Dallas if contract extension negotiations go haywire despite all signs pointing toward the two parties being equally motivated to get a deal done.

Will the Dallas Mavericks extend Josh Green? Will he have the best season of his career andd fufill Josh Giddey's prediction?

We'll have you covered on the latest with Josh Green and the rest of the team as we continue to approach the start of the regular season.