Danny Green to Lakers Always Made Sense, Even with Kawhi's Sights Set on LAC
The Green Ranger appears to be sick of NBA free agency.
Less than 10 hours after his late-night announcement that he was leaving the Toronto Raptors and signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, Danny Green was still in Canada over the weekend, looking like a man who could use a basketball-free vacation.
As he sat in front of the 100-plus kids and their parents during a midday Q&A session at his basketball camp in Vancouver on Saturday, it was apparent he was eager to talk about anything but his former team, his new team, his famous former superstar teammate or his new superstar teammate.
"Before we start, obviously, we know where Kawhi [Leonard] is going," Green said sternly about the separation. "I don't know what his thoughts are or what is going on in his mind. And you guys know where I'm going. I don't need this to be a free-agency Q&A."
While he may not want to talk about it—and his representatives did not grant B/R an onsite interview—he certainly profited from it. His two-year deal with the Lakers is reportedly worth $30 million. Not bad for a 32-year-old shooting guard with career averages of 9.0 points and 3.5 rebounds.
To the casual basketball fan, Green is your quintessential role player. He's a three-point shooter with grit and a championship pedigree, two things the Lakers desperately covet. He is relatable off the court, a millennial at heart: laid-back personality, with a history of sideline dancing.
He's also a strategic businessman. While the rest of the sports world focused on where free agents like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler and especially Leonard—his friend and longtime teammate with the San Antonio Spurs and Raptors—landed, Green and his team remained patient.
In today's ridiculous NBA economic landscape, second-tier free agents understand there are only a handful of A-list guys available but nearly double the number of teams with the money to pay them. Someone is not landing a superstar, and someone is going to have money for its Plan B.
This is hardly a new strategy. In recent years, second-tier players like JJ Redick and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have taken advantage of becoming productive salary-cap fillers, inking short-term, eight-digit contracts.
This past week, when the Lakers learned of Kawhi's decision, Green—courtesy of both Leonard's process and his own patience—earned himself a $5 million-per-season bump entering his age 32-season.
But business was not what Green was interested in discussing at the camp Q&A. He answered the general and silly questions that only kids could ask (in summary, no, Green will not shout you out on Twitter nor do a Kawhi laugh impersonation). However, it didn't take long for the informed campers to ignore the pre-established interview ground rules and turn up the heat. One preteen asked him why he was going to the Lakers.
"I thought before we started we weren't going to do free-agency questions?" Green answered before elaborating. "Obviously, you guys know what all the contract details were. The contract was the best with that city, with that team."
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This has been the life and routine of every hardcore NBA fan and every remaining free agent held hostage by the world's most mysterious and inconsiderate (at least this week) superstar.
As day six of #KawhiWatch ensued, the basketball world did its best to resume normalcy. The focus and storylines briefly shifted to Las Vegas as Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett made their long-anticipated summer-league debuts Friday.
Up in Vancouver, Green, a free agent on paper, was tentatively still a Raptor as he continued his four-city Puma promotional tour in Canada, signing Raptors jerseys at both London Drugs, a Canadian retail store chain, and a Foot Locker inside a local mall.
"Get your popcorn out," Green told the media at London Drugs about the Kawhi saga that was likely to unfold at any given moment.
While Kawhi was weighing widely publicized offers from the Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Green reportedly had essentially those same options, plus the Dallas Mavericks. Only, he needed to wait on Leonard to see whether he'd run it back with his longtime teammate in Tdot or capitalize from one of the soon-to-be Kawhi-less squads that would suddenly have ample money to spend.
As the days went on, hints of frustration started to show.
"Has it surprised me? No. Did I think it would take this long? No," Green said from London Drugs.
Several hours later, as Friday night spilled into Saturday morning on the East Coast, social media erupted when Kawhi spurned the Lakers and Raptors and signed with the dark-horse Clippers alongside new acquisition Paul George.
Patience was indeed a virtue. And it was time to pounce.
One of the smaller dominos of this drawn-out circus quickly became one of the biggest beneficiaries. Not even a half hour after his championship teammate in both San Antonio and Toronto agreed to join Doc Rivers and Co., Green was in a wine cellar inside a posh Vancouver restaurant announcing on his Inside the Green Room podcast he was joining the Lakers on a two-year deal.
A week of anxiety transitioned into a promising situation: near-superstar money, historic franchise, big market, sunny California, teammates with LeBron James (his teammate as a rookie in Cleveland) and Anthony Davis, chance at a championship.
"I'm excited for the next two years that I will be teaming up with my new teammates in L.A., the Los Angeles Lakers," Green said in his video. "Looking forward to playing with those guys."
Green and Leonard's names have long been intertwined.
They've been teammates for the past eight seasons (Leonard's entire career), got traded together and won two chips with two different squads. Their familiarity and respect for one another on the court is apparent, and they are friends, though the extent of that relationship is hard to gauge with the notoriously private Leonard.
There is also an imbalance. Leonard is soft-spoken and seemingly aloof, while Green is gregarious and transparent. Leonard is a perennial MVP candidate, while Green is a reliable and capable role player. Since their San Antonio days, the media has gone to Green for intel on Leonard—who Green has consistently protected or defended—never the other way around.
Kawhi is the one who spurned LeBron; Green is the one who'll be knocking down corner threes courtesy of The King himself.
Despite the loyalty, Green started to hint over the last year that he is his own man. As both played out their contract years in Toronto, Green made it clear he wouldn't necessarily follow Leonard in free agency.
"[The Raptors] figure if they keep Kawhi, then they can keep me, I guess," Green told B/R's The Full 48 podcast in December. "You don't have to keep him to have me."
While that might have been true, Green's future was still dependent on Leonard's decision.
If Leonard had stayed in Toronto, Green could have jumped back on for the possibility of a two-, maybe three-peat. If it isn't broken, why fix it? Plus, he could have stayed in a city he loved (he visited it every summer for the past several years). But even that wasn't a guarantee; at least that is what he told a camper in Vancouver who asked if he would have stayed had Kawhi re-signed.
"I don't know. Woulda, shoulda, coulda," Green responded with a shrug.
Had Leonard signed with the Lakers, it would have complicated matters for Green. The Raptors probably would have been in the mix, as would perhaps the Mavs—who earlier in the week snagged fellow shooting guard Seth Curry on a four-year, $32 million deal.
And that leads us to option C: the one that came true. The Clippers landing the ultimate prize probably turned out to be the best possible outcome for both Kawhi and his longest-running teammate.
Leonard got his longtime wish to return to Southern California, play with a co-superstar and Cali kid in George and form a team with the best chance to win it all, according to Caesars Palace.
Even if it was by default, Green has found his own place. We already mentioned the bag, the sun and the headliners he will join. He is the probable starting 2-guard on a Lakers team that is in desperate need of his shooting ability, leadership and experience. He too could be playing in June.
Only this time, Green will be without Leonard. While they are still neighbors, they will be rivals. Eventually, the free-agency and Kawhi questions will pass. But not just yet. In that somewhat dispirited Q&A in Vancouver, he briefly let up, telling the young campers that he wasn't as sick of free agency as much as it appeared.
"I haven't played with the Lakers yet, so I can't tell you what it feels like," Green said. "But I'm excited; I'm happy with the decision I made. I think they have a really good team. I haven't showed a lot of emotion about it, but it's exciting times."
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