Danny Green chose to sign with the Cavaliers over the Boston Celtics following his buyout from the Rockets. Green’s buyout was inevitable after he was part of the three-team trade that returned Eric Gordon to the Clippers and added Luke Kennard to the Grizzlies, and the Cs, Cavs, and Lakers were the immediate contenders for his services.
Passing up on a return to L.A., where he won his third championship on a third different team, Green chose Cleveland over Boston and Tinseltown so he can play an integral role for his new employer.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski shared as much in his tweet confirming the Green-Cavaliers contract signing:
The Boston Celtics trusting in-house options over external signings
Not signing Green is a direct endorsement of Sam Hauser, who continues to show improvement in his second season after hitting a rough patch for several months leading into the deadline. Strong play the week of the deadline kept the Cs from dealing for a wing, and the 25-year-old’s continued improvement could indicate a meaningful role for the Virginia/Marquette product come playoff time.
With the Celtics similarly not dealing away Payton Pritchard, Brad Stevens is endorsing his third-year combo guard and the final first-round pick of the Danny Ainge era over any veteran who could hit the buyout market by the end of February. Pritchard’s most recent comments about having wanted a trade at the deadline likely indicate something will happen in the offseason, but for now, he is a vital emergency piece for the team’s backcourt. Even keeping Luke Kornet around and adding a big man with a different skillset in Mike Muscala shows a good bit of faith in the big man known for the “Kornet contest.”
Regardless of what happens in the offseason, Stevens has already showed his faith in the current group with his deadline results.