Josh Green is Thriving in His Role off the Charlotte Hornets Bench

Josh Green deserves his flowers.

One of Jeff Peterson's first moves as the lead decision maker of the Charlotte Hornets was inserting his franchise into a six-team deal that landed Green, Reggie Jackson, and two second-round picks (via Denver) in the Queen City.

Green was shipped to Charlotte inbetween appearing in the NBA Finals with the Mavericks and representing his native Australia in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. He started his Hornets career with his tank on empty, and Charlotte rarely saw the best that Green had to offer in 2024-25.

There were some bright spots when the team was moderately healthy in November and December, but Green's overall campaign was a disappointment relative to expectations.

Now recovered from offseason shoulder surgery, Josh Green is playing the perfect role to match his swiss army knife skill set, and he has established himself as a pivotal member of Charlotte's rotation in their push to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

"His defensive presence -- the winning plays that he makes, the chase down back taps, and the block he had today, we consistently get that," said head coach Charles Lee after the Hornets' loss to Cleveland on February 20th.

Green has been huge for Charlotte on the defensive end, as expected. The Hornets rely on his acumen as a one-on-one defender to slow down top notch matchups when Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller rest, but it's Green's energy plays that swing his minutes in Charlotte's favor.

Whether it's a deflection in a passing lane that leads to a run out (Green's 1.7% steal percentage leads the team), a one-handed offensive rebound that ends up in the pocket of a shooter after a smart kick out (his 5.5% offensive percentage leads all non-bigs on the Hornets), or a dive in the stands to keep the ball in play, Green's infectious style of play is majorly impactful to Charlotte's overall team success.

Charlotte has won his 578 minutes this season by 11 points per 100 possessions, the fourth best number on the roster (behind LaMelo Ball, Grant Williams, and Moussa Diabate). Green's return from injury has supercharged the Hornets' bench units, and although he will always be known for his defense and hustle, some growth in Green's offensive game has been a major reason why.

In the same breath that Lee praised Green's defensive impact, he also shouted out the growth he's seen from the Aussie on offense as well.

"The thing that I see in him game-after-game now, especially after the last two games, is feeling more comfortable with the ball in his hands. If he's going to drive with that type of force and physicality...things like that? That's going to take our offense to a whole other level."

Some tough and-one finishes around the basket. A slick no-look, wraparound pass to an open shooter in the corner. A perfectly placed kick-out after he puts his crash helmet on and cannon balls into the lane for an offensive rebound. Those are the types of plays Lee is talking about, and the types of plays that Green has started to contribute on a more regular basis.

And while those things have been pivotal to Charlotte's league-best offense this calendar year, it's Green's steady hand on offense that really keeps the Hornets buzzing.

According to NBA.com, a stunning 50.8% of Josh Green's shots have been considered wide open (closest defender 6+ feet away) three-pointers, and he's converting on a blistering 46.2% of those. As long as 'J Gizzle,' a nickname revealed to the world by Kon Knueppel in a recent post-game interview, knocks down the looks created for him, he'll sharpie his name into Charles Lee's playoff rotation.

Since being named the head coach of the Hornets in the summer of 2024, Lee has spoken at length about the team's need for 'connectors,' and he has an exceptional one in the form of Josh Green.