Aussie banished to NBA wilderness in blockbuster Klay Thompson free agency move

Another Australian is on the move in the NBA, after the Golden State Warriors parted ways for an iconic player in a major trade.

Just like that another Australian is on the move in the NBA.

This time it is Josh Green who has been traded, becoming the third Australian to be dealt this off-season in a move that sees the Sydney native land with the Charlotte Hornets and Klay Thompson at the Dallas Mavericks in a multi-team trade.

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As part of the deal, the Hornets will send two second-round picks to the Mavericks for Green, with one of those potentially landing at Golden State, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Thompson, the veteran shooting guard who has spent all 13 years of his NBA career with the Warriors, was an unrestricted free agent this summer and reportedly received interest from the Nuggets, Magic, Lakers, Clippers and 76ers.

In the end, Golden State facilitated a sign-and-trade deal with the Mavericks which included Green for salary-matching purposes.

The Australian signed a three-year, $41 million rookie contract extension with Dallas last October and is set to pocket $12.6 million next season.

For Green, he moves away from a Western Conference contender in Dallas to a team that finished third-last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses.

Josh Green and Klay Thompson.

Green is the third Australian to be traded this summer, with Dyson Daniels dealt to Atlanta and Josh Giddey moved to Chicago.

The silver lining for Green, like Giddey and Daniels, is that it should come with more playing time and, as a result, more opportunities to develop his game both on and off the ball.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer, Green was someone the Hornets leadership “coveted” at last season’s trade deadline.

As for Thompson, the move gives the 34-year-old another chance to compete for a title after the Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving-led Mavericks fell short in the NBA Finals this past season.

The four-time NBA champion offers a clear shooting upgrade for a Mavericks team that can replace Green’s production with the addition of Quentin Grimes, who Dallas received in a trade with the Pistons last week that saw Tim Hardaway Jr. land at Detroit.

Originally published as Aussie banished to NBA wilderness in blockbuster Klay Thompson free agency move