The Jeff Green Conundrum
Ah, Jeff Green!
Lost in all of the buzz surrounding how the Boston Celtics fared in the NBA Draft, Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo trade rumors, and the acquisition of free agent Evan Turner is the fact that Uncle Green was Boston’s leading scorer last season . . . good for him, but bad for the Celtics, since Green would be the third or even fourth option on an awful lot of teams in the NBA.
Before you start putting angry fingers to keyboard in order to leave me some choice words in the comments section, believe me when I say that I like Jeff Green. There are nights when he is breath-taking to watch, such as the time he killed the Miami Heat at the buzzer last season . . .
. . . or this powerful slam against the Clippers . . .
. . . or the time when he absolutely abused Al Jefferson. Oh my.
Aw, what the hell! Let’s look at Green’s poster-izing of Jason Maxiell last season, just for good measure!
Yeah – Jeff Green can absolutely have moments of sheer greatness. But the number of times he failed to even crack double-digits in the scoring column last season demonstrate a harsh reality: Jeff Green is not wired to be “the guy” on an NBA team.
This is not a bad thing, mind you. Every team needs a third and fourth option on offense, and Green would be a great addition to a contender looking to add one more weapon in its quest for a championship.
And now that the Celtics have picked up Evan Turner, it’s time for Boston to begin shopping Green, right?
Look: I’m not going to say, “No.” If Danny Ainge can somehow get an offer for Green that makes the team better, he should most certainly go for it. However, what’s a best-case trade scenario for Jeff Green – a second-round pick and a role player? Green is set to make $9.2 million this coming season, with a player option for him to make that much again in 2015-2016. That’s a lot of money to take on for a team looking to add a third or fourth option to their team, so unless the Celtics are willing to give Green away, there won’t be too many teams knocking on Boston’s door any time soon. The Celtics will most likely have to wait until teams start to gear up for a playoff run before the phone starts ringing, but even then, how many playoff-bound teams are going to be able to make an offer the Celtics cannot refuse?
Including Green in a multi-team deal, such as one that would facilitate sending Kevin Love to anyplace not named Minnesota, is more likely to happen – but that depends on a lot of variables, most of which the Celtics cannot control. There has also been talk that any trade that ships Rajon Rondo out of town will also include Green, as a salary cap clearing measure. Wouldn’t that be fun, watching the Celtics lose their floor general and current leading scoring, all in one fell swoop?
Of course, Boston can always keep Green, too, in the hopes that both he and Rondo will choose to remain in Boston, provided the Celtics can go out and land a big-name player in free agency next summer. Either that, or watch him ride off into the free agency sunset after the 2014-2015 season comes to a close.
Ugh.
As you can see, the Boston Celtics DO have options when it comes to what to do with Jeff Green. It just so happens that all of them kind of suck. If Boston can figure out a way to get really good, fast, then Jeff Green is a player worth retaining. . . but since we all know that is not going to happen, I expect Danny Ainge and company to pull their hair out, trying to figure out what to do with Uncle Jeff. To that end, I wish them good luck.