Cavs Sign Jeff Green

Cavs Sign Jeff Green

2017-07-07 Off By Mike Schreiner

The Cleveland Cavaliers added another forward to their roster today when they signed veteran Jeff Green to a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum of $2.3 million. Green’s signing was first reported by Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was first with the terms of the deal.

Green, who will turn 31 near the end of August, spent last season with the Orlando Magic shooting career-lows from both the field (39.4%) and from beyond the arc (27.5%). While Green has never been a favorite of analytics, and his teams regularly perform worse with him on the bench, some of his struggles last season can be attributed to playing on a Magic team whose roster had many redundant and ill-fitting parts. While he is known for his inconsistency, Green has typically played at the level of a solid backup for the majority of his career, and on a Cavaliers team where his role will be simplified, he should be able to get back to that relatively modest level of play.

Green, who has also played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, and Los Angeles Clippers, had his best season with Boston in 2013-2014, when he averaged 16.9 points and 4.6 rebounds while starting all 82 regular season games at small forward for the Celtics. More importantly, he spent the prior season-and-a-half with Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, who was an assistant coach for the Celtics from 2009-2013. Lue may have a higher comfort level with Green than he did with Derrick Williams, and his presence may help Lue rest Richard Jefferson more during the regular season. At the very least, it’s nice to hear the LeBron James had conversations with Green prior to him signing with the Cavaliers.

If nothing else, James probably has faith in Green due to this.

Jeff Green isn’t the type of player to get extremely excited about. There’s no proof he can help against the Warriors, and he’s not the defensive stopper the Cavs need. His inconsistency will also likely drive Cavalier fans crazy at times. Despite that, he’s likely an upgrade over Williams—who seems unlikely to return now—and is still in his athletic prime. Jeff Green for the minimum is a lot different than Jeff Green for $15 million a year. If he can help the Cavaliers keep the minutes down for Jefferson and James in the regular season, then he will have been well worth the money.

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