The Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets just made a move that changed the NBA season. LaMelo Ball and former Mavericks forward Josh Green will head to the Wolves, and the Hornets will get Naz Reid and a load of draft capital.
Green was a 3-and-D guard for the Dallas Mavericks who had his spurts, but he never really progressed into any high ceiling. He was a reliable bench piece at times, but he was never a starting material. In Charlotte, he put up some of his worst career numbers, only averaging 15.7 minutes a game and 4.3 points a game.
The Mavericks are in great hands with Max Christie, as he's putting up his best performances since his days with the Los Angeles Lakers. It's easy to see similarities in style and body type when comparing Christie to Green, but Christie has been an amazing scorer, and Wolves fans, you may not see much of Green when the season starts.
Timberwolves are about to get a harsh Josh Green realization
The Timberwolves seem like they already have their lineup in tact. They just signed playoff hero Ayo Dosunmu to a five-year, $112 million deal. They have Ball, Anthony Edwards, Dosunmu, Jaden McDaniels and Rudy Gobert as their core five.
Kyle Anderson, Mike Conley and Terrence Shannon Jr. are the other guys. Conley is on his last legs as a player, and Donte DiVincenzo will likely be out for a considerable amount of time after he injured his Achilles tendon in the playoffs.
Green may be forced to play some key minutes because of the Timberwolves working their offseason magic, but he's not going to be anything more than a bench piece who plays in between 15-20 minutes a game. With Charlotte, the depth chart was already designed for Green not to play minutes, but that could've been because the Hornets didn't want him to play.
Also, this will be Green's third team in four seasons. It's not exactly an attraction when you've been moving team-to-team with the stats on his resume from last season. The Wolves' depth chart is looking like Green will have to play relevant minutes, so this may be his revenge season to showcase what he's got.
In terms of the trade itself, Reid is a Sixth Man of the Year player, and he's going to work nicely with Kon Knueppel and Miles Bridges.
But for Green, he's a reminder to Mavs fans of what could've been, but he's been trying to reach that ceiling for a while, and he hasn't been able to crack it yet.
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