How Gerald Green Impacts the Young Guards

Will Gerald Green steal minutes from the Celtics young back court?

Adding Gerald Green could end up being one of the most underrated moves this offseason. On a bench full of defensive-minded wing players, Green’s offensive ability stands out. He’s a pure scorer whose still one of the more athletic players in the league. Maybe his lesser impact on other areas of the game has held him back in his career, although every team needs a score-first player who can be lightning in a bottle off the bench.

Green’s athletic ability paired with his solid three-point shot should help him see a sizable role off the bench for the Boston Celtics this upcoming season. After a disappointing season in Miami, he’ll once again be trying to prove he can be a solid rotational player in the NBA. With that being said, will Gerald Green cut into the minutes and development of the Celtics young back court?

When it comes to Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, their minutes will barely be cut into, if at all. Rozier and Smart can both play point guard, while Green is an off-the-ball player who can play from shooting guard to power forward. Therefore, he’s more likely to play as a small forward with Rozier and Smart in the back court and Brown at power forward in a small ball lineup.

Smart should continue to see around 27 minutes per night, Rozier will play close to 20 minutes per game and Brown and Green will likely each see 15-20 minutes off the bench. With no starters seeing more than 35 minutes per game last season, it’s evident that Brad Stevens doesn’t want to run his players into the ground. That’s why Boston’s deep bench has been so important, and it also helps keep their starters rested for the playoffs.

With Smart’s defense being irreplaceable, Rozier coming off an impressive summer league where he showed he’s capable of playing the point, and Brown being the third overall pick and offering a new dynamic to the Celtics’ offense, none will fall out of the rotation early due to this signing. Also, Green’s game isn’t similar to any of the three previously mentioned wing players. With Green’s game complimenting each style of play, he will have a role off the bench alongside them, giving the starters rest and keeping the bench intact.

Despite the Celtics three main bench players’ minutes likely not changing, Green’s signing does impact the end of the Celtics 15-man roster. The obvious reason is that Green takes up a valuable spot on a very crowded team, although this could also be signaling the end of the James Young era. With a couple of back court players biding for the final couple of roster spots, Boston has a lot of tough decisions ahead of them.

Demetrius Jackson was a projected first round pick, therefore the potential he holds has to be intriguing to the Celtics. Although, with three point guards already on the roster, there might not be a need for Jackson who recently signed a guaranteed contract.

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However, I’d expect either R.J. Hunter or James Young to be off the roster at the end of the summer – most likely Young. In a way, Green is everything the Celtics were hoping James Young would be. He’s extremely athletic and is a solid outside shooter. That was basically Young’s scouting report coming out of college, but, obviously, he’s yet to live up to those expectations.

At only 20-years-old it’s hard to give up on Young, although Gerald Green makes him expendable. Even if the Celtics do keep Young, he’ll likely spend next season in Maine, again. The Celtics wouldn’t have minutes off the bench for Young as it is, and they’d continue to hope he’d figure it out in Maine. Still, an injury would have to force him into action, making his chances of making it with the Celtics extremely unlikely.

The same will likely happen to R.J. Hunter, who supposedly had a chance to see valuable minutes off the bench as a second-year player.

Boston knew they were in need of a sharpshooter last year when they drafted Hunter. Although, Hunter only shot 29.9 percent from three in the NBA and D-League combined as a rookie. He was never able to stay in the rotation for more than a couple of games.

Still, Hunter is coming off a summer league in which he shot 47.2 percent from three. With the range he showed, and his ability to catch-and-shoot and also shoot off-the-dribble, many felt he could crack the rotation this upcoming season. However, the Celtics must not have felt comfortable relying on a second-year guard who had a struggling rookie campaign.

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It’s hard to blame them considering they were the third-worst three-point shooting team in the NBA last season and were in dire need of adding at least some stability to their perimeter-oriented offense. Although, with the back court already crowded and the Celtics opting towards signing a veteran on a “prove it” deal rather than trusting their first round pick from a year ago, it doesn’t speak highly about the opportunities Hunter will see in the future.

Everyone knew this day would come. The Celtics would have to start filling out their roster with veteran specialists. With that being said, it does come as somewhat of a surprise that it has begun this offseason as they still hold a lot of uncertainty with their younger players and roster in general.

When it comes down to it, Green is going to get the scraps that are left over from the Celtics’ main three bench wings. When Boston is in need of stopping a scoring drought, they’ll turn to Green to try to get them going and regain a little momentum.

Next: What Does Gerald Green Add to the Celtics?

With Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier owning a lot of potential, Brad Stevens won’t do anything to jeopardize their developments in the future. Although, this makes staying on the roster harder for some of their other young guards. Either way, Green’s expected role as a pure scorer is pretty straightforward, and he’ll just be another piece to the puzzle, but won’t remake the picture.

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