After helping them win their first NBA championship title, veteran shooting guard Danny Green decided to part ways with the Toronto Raptors last summer. In the first week of the 2019 NBA free agency, Green ended his partnership with the Raptors to sign a two-year, $15 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers . Before he officially agreed to ink a deal with the Purple and Gold, Green had been courted by multiple teams, including the Dallas Mavericks .
In a recent appearance on Take it There with Taylor Rooks — which is posted on YouTube — Green revealed that, like the Lakers, the Mavericks also expressed a very strong interest in acquiring him in free agency.
“Dallas was very interested, the Lakers were interested,” Green said, as quoted by ClutchPoints . “But the Lakers, to me, were front-runners to me because of the pieces they had now. Dallas has some really good pieces, but I think it would be a year or two for them to be in that conversation. But yes, those were the two front-runners. Outside of knowing what Toronto was able to offer, it was the Lakers and Dallas.”
Green admitted that he was intrigued by the idea of playing for the Mavericks, but they were clearly on a different level than the Lakers. Though the Mavericks have an interesting core of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, they aren’t currently considered a serious threat in the deep Western Conference. Meanwhile, since All-Star center Anthony Davis took his talents to Los Angeles to team up with LeBron James, the Lakers immediately emerged as one of the heavy favorites to bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season.
Before the NBA suspension due to coronavirus, the Lakers were establishing an impressive performance in the 2019-20 season, sitting in the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference with a 49-14 record. Though it remains unknown when the NBA season will resume, the suspension could somewhat benefit the Lakers as it will give James, Davis, Green, and their other key contributors enough time to rest their bodies and recover from their injuries. This likely ensures that all of them will be in tiptop shape when the real battle begins in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Green would have been an incredible addition to the Mavericks, giving them a reliable three-point shooter and a lockdown defender. However, as of now, what the Mavericks need most in order to have a realistic chance of contending for the championship title is a legitimate NBA superstar that could complement Doncic and Porzingis.