Jeff Green: Keep Him, Or Trade Him?

With all due respect to Rajon Rondo, who notched his second triple-double of the season yesterday, this has been the year of Jeff Green, Boston Celtics fans.

It’s not just that Uncle Jeff is on pace to enjoy his best offensive season ever (his scoring average of 19.3 PPG this season is a nearly a full 2.5 points better than his career average) – it’s the fact that Green appears to finally have achieved the consistency that most fans have been complaining he lacked for all of these years.

For starters, a quick look at his game logs over at NBA.com give you a good understanding of how reliable Green has been to start the 2014-2015 season. Gone are the wild swings from years past – no more 25 points one game, followed by 8 the next. Green has scored in double digits every single game so far this season, with his lowest scoring effort coming against the Philadelphia 76ers, when he scored 11. The two games in which Green has topped 30 points this season (35 against Dallas, 32 against Detroit) were followed up by 20 and 19 point efforts, respectively – and as a matter of fact, in each of the two games that followed a 30+ point effort from Green, he actually shot a better percentage.

It’s clear that Green is looking for his shot more this season (he is averaging 15.2 shots per game, as compared to his career average of just 12), and while there are nights I would like to see him attack the paint a little more aggressively (there are still too many games in which he attempts no, one, or only two free throws), overall he is averaging 4.7 free throws per game – again, a career high.

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(All of Jeff Green’s career stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com.)

Green’s commitment to being the Boston Celtics’ leading scorer is a big reason why the Celtics are riding a three-game winning streak and possess the sixth-best offense in the NBA at 104.2 PPG. It is possible that, in his seventh year in the NBA, Jeff Green has finally figured out how to be a threat to score 20 points on a nightly basis.

So, of course, it’s time to trade him, right?

(Original question, I know.)

Let’s face it – there a lot of teams who are sizing up the competition and finding themselves one scorer shy of being a threat to win it all. The way he is playing now, Green is a solid second or third option on offense, and would instantly improve a lot of team’s second units if he was handed a sixth-man role. You don’t think a team like the Sacramento Kings (101.4 PPG, 13th in the league), Memphis (100.4, 15th in the league) or even the Miami Heat (95.1 PPG, 23rd in the league) would hang up on Danny Ainge if he came calling, offering Jeff Green’s services?

Aye – but there’s the rub. If this new and improved Jeff Green is good enough to help a playoff team get over the hump, why not just keep him? A Boston Celtics team with Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, most of its current supporting cast, and a key free agent pick up or two is a playoff team. Jeff Green may not be the Celtics’ best long-term offensive option, but certainly the team is going to reliable production from at least three players -why not just keep him?

My thoughts? Most of the teams who need the services of Jeff Green don’t have anything good to offer in return. Phoenix could be an exception, as they are very guard-heavy and have acquired a nice stock of draft picks. So could Chicago, who probably would like an upgrade over Mike Dunleavy at the 3. Still, a lot of the teams who come knocking are playoff regulars, who have neither the sort of draft picks Boston needs, nor any players Boston wants – because a playoff-bound team isn’t trading a second or third scoring option.

If Green continues to look for his shot and stay aggressive, he could play an important role in Boston’s quest for banner number 18.

What are your thoughts? Vote, and then pipe up down below!

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