Jeff Green to Grizzlies: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction
With an eye toward the future, the Boston Celtics made another major trade in the 2014-15 NBA season.
The Celtics were involved in a three-team deal including the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans. The biggest piece involved is Jeff Green, who's moving from Boston to Memphis. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported the full details of the trade:
The Celtics made the deal official Monday via a release on the team website.
However, Rivers could be on the move to reunite with his father in Los Angeles, via Stein:
Boston has been pretty active over the last month.
First came the Rajon Rondo-to-Dallas deal, with the team parting ways with its All-Star point guard. Adrian Wojnarowski also reported Friday that Boston was sending Brandan Wright—acquired in the Rondo trade—to the Phoenix Suns for a protected first-round pick.
Most expected Green to be traded before the Feb. 19 deadline. Stein reported on Jan. 8 that the Grizzlies were among those actively chasing the veteran forward in addition to the Miami Heat's Luol Deng:
He followed up by adding that when Memphis' pursuit of Deng went nowhere, Green became the main target:
By adding the pick and Austin Rivers in the deal, the Celtics picked up tangible assets beyond Tayshaun Prince's expiring deal and the salary-cap relief that will come with it.
However, Wojnarowski reported shortly after the trade that Boston was on the verge of sending Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers, so the team might turn him around quickly for another asset:
It's impossible to say how valuable the Grizzlies' pick will be, but it's hard to argue that general manager Danny Ainge hasn't set the wheels in motion for a rebuild. Wojnarowski tweeted out the number of first-rounders Boston could potentially have over the next few years:
Throughout his career, Green has shown flashes, such as his 43-point outburst in a 105-103 loss to the Miami Heat in March 2013. He'll have those nights when he's on fire and looks like an All-Star.
For the most part, though, he's tantalized fans with potential more so than he has actually produced. Every hot stretch is followed by a more prolonged cold stretch.
Green's numbers have ticked upward this year after he averaged 16.9 points on 41.2 percent shooting in 2013-14. According to Pro-Basketball-Reference, his .520 true shooting percentage was his lowest since his rookie season.
In 2014-15, Green's averaging 17.6 points a game on 43.4 percent shooting. Although he's only knocking down 30.5 percent of his three-pointers, his true shooting percentage is a somewhat healthier 53.9 percent.
From a Celtics perspective, this is arguably the right decision for the franchise.
When the team traded Rondo, general manager Danny Ainge sent the message that he wasn't afraid to completely blow things up and sell off anybody who wasn't a part of his long-term plans.
Green's future was a hotly debated topic among Celtics fans before the season started. He has a player option for next season, and it's very likely that he'll opt out of his current deal and become a free agent.
Much like with Rondo, Boston was faced with a tough decision as to what it would do with the versatile star. By dealing him now, it will at least get something in return for Green rather than letting him walk in the offseason for nothing.
On Jan. 8, Boston.com's Adam Kaufman wrote that trading Green would allow head coach Brad Stevens a little more freedom with his rotations, in turn getting a more substantial look at which players fit into which roles:
"The biggest challenge for C's coach Brad Stevens right now as he toys with an ever evolving rotation is determining who is and isn’t going to be around in a couple of years. Green isn't, so there's no reason not to move him, free up his 33 minutes a night, and get a more extensive look at energetic Dallas acquisition Jae Crowder (a restricted free agent this summer) and talented rookie James Young (mostly buried on the bench or in the D-League thus far). If Stevens wanted to, he could even shift Evan Turner back to the wing and get a longer gaze at No. 6 overall pick Marcus Smart at the point.
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Acquiring Green is also a smart move for the Grizzlies. As Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix posited, Green never seemed a good fit in Boston because he was expected to do too much:
In Memphis, he can be more of a complementary player rather than a franchise cornerstone.
Some might argue that Deng would've been a better fit for the team. He's a better defender than Green, more willing to do the dirty work and far less unstable performance-wise on a nightly basis.
However, Green offers a bit of a higher ceiling. The fact that he's unlike what the Grizzlies currently have on the roster might be more beneficial as well.
The team ranks 28th in made three-pointers and 27th in three-point attempts. Bleacher Report's Josh Martin argued that Green's potential from long range could be exactly what Memphis' offense needs:
"Beyond that, he could strengthen a couple of Memphis' less glaring weaknesses: perimeter shooting and transition scoring. Green isn't a great three-point shooter (34 percent for his career), and the Grizzlies' top-10 offense has performed just fine, despite deriving a paltry 16.7 percent of its points (28th in the league) from long range, per NBA.com.
Still, it won't hurt Memphis to have another player who's credible enough from that distance, so long as the looks are good ones, to draw an extra foot or two of defensive attention. That much space could be key to Gasol and Randolph, who tend to draw big crowds in the middle of the floor, particularly in the postseason.
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Memphis currently sits fourth in the Western Conference, but the compact nature of the standings means that one bad week could mean losing home-court advantage and winding up with a brutal first-round matchup.
Trading for Green isn't necessarily a go-for-broke move, but the Grizzlies are hoping that his presence will be the difference between being a conference finals team and an NBA title contender.
