Green Day – Celtics get Jeff for 4 years $36M

The Celtics added a little stability to their wing for the foreseeable future by grabbing Jeff Green for 4 years and $36 million.  The deal was announced earlier this week but the terms were only announced today.  I personally think its $1 or $2 million a year too much for someone just getting over major heart surgery, and not playing in over a year, but Danny seems to be a huge believer of Green.  I know the biggest benefit of this deal will be Paul Pierce who will be able to take longer substitutions and be more refreshed come playoff time.  Green is also a good defender who can be used to spot the other elite SF’s in the East like Anthony, Lebron, Igoudala and Granger.

Green is good in that he can play both the 3 or 4, and is still very young at 25.  His game can best be described as very balanced, with no single stat jumping out at you.  I would hope he could continue to develop his shot, especially behind the 3-point line, as that could definitely help the Celtics spread the floor when he is at the 4.

Doc will definitely have an easier time with lineups, as Green’s ability to backup Bass or Pierce will open a lot of flexibility.  Green might also benefit from the fact that he now has a defined role with the Celtics, something he didn’t have his first year here.  He is expected to come off the bench and provide energy and scoring for the second unit.  His first year with the Celtics he was expected to fit in with the Big 3 and Rondo, but more often looked lost on offensive sets.  Now he can run the court with Terry and make our second unit extremely athletic.

With Allen leaving this move almost became automatic.  The Celtics have about $12 million in cap holds that they need to fill, or else they will simply lose that space as they are already over the cap and are now just using bird rights.  So the numbers aren’t as terrible as they might seem as the Celtics gained more flexibility once Ray left.  The biggest restriction this might put on the Celtics is that they might have priced themselves out of the Kristic and Steamer sweepstakes.  Krstic is over in Europe doing whatever crazy Europeans do, but the Celtics still have his bird rights.  It might take $5 million to lure him back to America.  Steamer was just offered $3 million from the Timberwolves, which is way higher than the $1 million the Celtics offered him, and I’m not sure how high Danny is willing to spend on the Steamer.

I’m excited that Jeff is a Celtic for the foreseeable future, and hope he continues to develop and become as good as Danny Ainge expects him to be.