Josh Green's summer is the strangest story on this roster. He started it as a Charlotte Hornet, got traded to Minnesota in the LaMelo Ball deal, posed for photos at his introductory press conference, went on a team trip to France, and then got traded again before he ever played a game for the Wolves. Before all that, he was a Sydney kid who made state teams in nine sports, gave up a spot in an Aussie rules academy, won an Olympic bronze medal, and played in an NBA Finals. He is also, quietly, a very useful contract for a front office that wants to make another move.
Nine sports and a camper van
Green was born in Sydney in November 2000 and grew up in the city's northwest. His parents, Cahla and Delmas, both played professional basketball in Australia, per the Dallas Mavericks, and they never pushed him toward the sport. By age 10 he had made state teams in nine sports. His mother started coaching him in basketball when he was five.
The best family story is about her. When Josh was in fifth grade, his sister Maya was born, and days later his mother rented a camper van and drove the family 14 hours into the Outback so he could try out for an under-12 team, the Mavs reported. A year later he captained the NSW Metro side to a national title, per the Australian Olympic Committee.
He told the Mavs he still texts his mom every night and before every game:
"My mom played basketball and she's a very competitive lady as well. She has taught me a lot of stuff on and off the court."
Aussie rules was a real option too. He was part of the Sydney Swans academy before settling in the Greater Western Sydney Giants academy, per Fox Sports Australia, and he had to give it all up when the family moved to the US. "I loved playing Australian football, honestly," he told Fox Sports. "I really, really enjoyed it."
From Phoenix to IMG to Arizona
He was 13 when the family flew out of Sydney, the Mavs reported. He played at Mountain Ridge High School and then Hillcrest Prep in the Phoenix area, where Deandre Ayton was a teammate, per Fox Sports Australia and Bleacher Report. After a coaching change at Hillcrest he transferred to IMG Academy in Florida in 2017 and became a five-star recruit. He scored 19 points in his last high school game to lead IMG past La Lumiere for the national championship and was named the game's MVP, per the Australian Olympic Committee. He was a 2019 McDonald's All-American.
Living in America didn't change who he roots for. As an 18-year-old he told ESPN: "I've been in America for the last four years of my life, but I'm still all-in for Australia."
He picked Arizona, and before his debut he told The Pick and Roll exactly what kind of player he wanted to be: "My goal is just to win. I want to win at Arizona." He named Richard Hamilton, Kawhi Leonard, and Joe Johnson among the players he studied. In one season in Tucson he started all 30 games he played, per Arizona Athletics, and averaged 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, per Sports-Reference, then declared for the draft.
Dallas, with a Salt Lake detour
The Mavericks took him 18th in the 2020 draft. His first steady minutes came in the G League bubble in early 2021, and his team there was, of all things, the Salt Lake City Stars. In six games for the Jazz's affiliate he averaged 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 steals, per the Mavs.
He grew a little each year in Dallas: from 2.6 points as a rookie to 9.1 points on 40.2% from three in 2022-23. His best night came against Utah. On Feb. 6, 2023, hours after Dallas traded two starters for Kyrie Irving and with Luka Dončić out, Green scored a career-high 29 points in a 124-111 win at Vivint Arena, per the AP. Jason Kidd explained what the trade meant for him, via Mavs Moneyball:
"I think you're going to look at him having to defend the top offensive wing or guard on the floor. We're not going to ask him to do more. We just need him to be himself on the defensive end."
In October 2023 he signed a three-year, $41 million extension, per Mavs Moneyball. That season he started 33 games and Dallas made the NBA Finals, where Boston won in five. He also played in the 2022 first-round series in which Dallas knocked out the Jazz.
The Boomers
Green's national-team résumé is better than most players on this roster. He came off the bench in five games for the Boomers team that beat Slovenia 107-93 for bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, Australia's first men's basketball Olympic medal, per the Australian Olympic Committee. He averaged 8.2 points at the 2023 World Cup and played at the Paris Olympics, where Australia lost to Serbia in overtime in the quarterfinals.
At the 2023 World Cup he moved into the starting lineup. Head coach Brian Goorjian's description, via Sports Illustrated, is the best scouting report on him we've found:
"[Green] is a bulldog on the ball, like Delly on steroids. The ball pressure was incredible."
He calls the national team "a huge priority." "Every time I am able to wear the green and gold, I think it is one of those opportunities that is hard to pass up," he told SEN, per the NBL.
Charlotte, a shoulder, and a shrinking role
After the Finals, Dallas sent Green to Charlotte in July 2024 in the multi-team deal that brought Klay Thompson to the Mavs, per AAP. His first Hornets season was his biggest workload: 67 starts, 27.8 minutes, 7.4 points, and 39.1% from three.
In June 2025 he had surgery to fix instability in his left shoulder, per Basketball.com.au. He missed the start of 2025-26 and came back to a bench role: 58 games, no starts, 15.7 minutes, 4.3 points. The shooting held up, though. He made 42.0% of his threes and 89.3% of his free throws, both career bests, and Salt City Hoops found Charlotte's defense was 8.3 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor.
Two trades in two months
On June 25, Charlotte agreed to send Green and LaMelo Ball to Minnesota for Naz Reid and a pile of picks, per NBC Sports. The Wolves introduced him, Chris Finch praised him ("He's a guy who's been in this league a long time, been to the Finals and can fit and gel with many different lineups"), and he went on a team trip to France, per Basketball.com.au.
Then Minnesota needed room to sign Jonathan Kuminga. On Aug. 29 the Wolves sent Green and cash to Utah for Cody Williams and John Konchar. Shams Charania's summary, quoted by the NBL: "They (Minnesota) found a home for Josh Green on a Jazz team that wanted an additional 3-and-D wing." Salt City Hoops reported the cash was about $4 million.
The bigger reason may be his contract. Green makes $14.7 million in the final year of that Dallas extension, and The Salt Lake Tribune and Salt City Hoops both point out that Utah had no mid-sized salary for trades before this. Salt City Hoops says the Jazz can combine his salary with others starting Oct. 29.
Our take: giving up on a No. 10 pick after two years stings. But Green is the better player right now, and he's also the most useful trade chip the Jazz have outside the core.
Media day and a quiet preseason
He'll wear No. 5 in Utah. He's the fourth Australian to play for the Jazz, after Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, and Patty Mills, per Basketball.com.au. At media day he pitched himself as a mentor for Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey:
"I'm a quieter guy, but I do think I demonstrate a lot through what I do on the court and how I act on the court. Hopefully, I'm someone who's good to talk to and learn lessons from."
He's also been checking out the local coffee: "I enjoy my coffee, so I've been to a few spots out here."
A left knee injury kept him out of the preseason opener in Denver, per The Salt Lake Tribune. He debuted in the third quarter of the Oct. 6 rematch, per the Jazz, and went 0-for-2 from three with two rebounds, two assists, and three fouls in 10:36 (box score). Against San Antonio he played 10:30, all after halftime, didn't take a shot, and was +9 (box score). As we wrote in our Spurs recap, Hardy's first-half nine didn't include either Josh.
Role
Green is a 6-6 wing whose job is to pick up the other team's best guard and make life hard. On offense he's low-usage: catch-and-shoot threes, cuts, and transition. That's exactly what Hardy says this team needs ("Defensively, we've got to take a jump, and it starts with everybody's individual pride," he told ABC4), and it's why we named him in our season preview as one of the perimeter defenders the Jazz will lean on. In October, though, he's behind Bailey, Collier, Mykhailiuk, and Sensabaugh in the wing pecking order.
2026-27 prediction
He opens the season as the 10th or 11th man and earns spot minutes on defense, especially against teams with a scoring guard who needs to be slowed down. Jazz radio voice David Locke said on the Locked On Jazz postcast that he expects both Joshes to work their way past some players in the rotation as the year goes on, and we think Green's shooting gives him the better shot of the two. We'd also bet there's a real chance he isn't on the roster after the Feb. 11 trade deadline, not because of anything he does, but because his expiring $14.7 million is the salary that makes a bigger trade work.
Sources: Dallas Mavericks / NBA.com, Australian Olympic Committee, Fox Sports Australia, Bleacher Report, ESPN, The Pick and Roll, Arizona Athletics, Sports-Reference, AP via Fox 4, Mavs Moneyball (extension), Sports Illustrated, NBL (trade), AAP, Basketball.com.au (trade, media day), NBC Sports, The Salt Lake Tribune (preseason), Salt City Hoops, Deseret News, ABC4, Locked On Jazz, Utah Jazz / NBA.com, and NBA.com box scores (Oct. 6, Oct. 12).