Boston Celtics: Jeff Green Aiming to Improve as a Leader

Boston Celtics’ forward Jeff Green may still be just 28 years old, but among the youthful faces on this Celtics’ roster he is already considered as a veteran. Without Rajon Rondo for much of last season and after trading away both Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, Green was thrust into a leading role for the new-look Celtics last season and the results were mixed. Now, after a season together and another year of experience behind him, Green is looking to improve his game and become a true leader for the young, talented players on the Celtics’ roster. ESPN’s Chris Forsberg caught up with Green at an event supporting the My Brother’s Keeper initiative and the talented forward spoke about his work in the offseason so far.

"“You can’t really put a timetable on the rebuilding process,” said Green. “As long as you continue to get better each day — going to practice and just get better — that’s what it’s going to take for us to get better as a team and to increase wins. I think we ended the season well and this whole summer each guy took it upon themselves to get better, which is going to make our team better.” What did Green focus on during the offseason? “Just get better as a player, all around,” he said. “I don’t have one or two things that I focused on completely throughout the whole summer. I think it was more just becoming a better all-around player and trying to take the next step to becoming a leader on this team.”"

As the Celtics entered into the first year of their rebuilding phase, many expected Jeff Green to make the leap and become the team’s primary focus on the offensive end. While he did lead the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game, he also shot just .412 from the field and struggled with his consistency. Green would often break-out for a 30-plus point performance, signalling that he may have turned the corner but then back that up with a single digit effort the very next game. While he is undoubtedly talented and versatile, it has become obvious that the primary scoring role is not necessarily one that should be expected of Green.

However, while you may not want him to try and average 20 points a night, that does not mean that Green cannot become a more vocal, more aggressive and more inspiring leader to his young teammates. Jeff Green himself is an inspiring character and a man whose work-ethic cannot be questioned. He underwent heart surgery and missed the entire 2011-12 surgery as he recovered. Many people would not want to go through the extensive rehabilitation and training to strengthen the body enough to play professionally again but Green came through with flying colours. He has worked himself into tremendous shape, looks after his body and was an ironman for the Celtics last season playing in all 82 games.

With the return of Rajon Rondo for (hopefully) the whole 2014-15 season and the addition of a number of talented players to the roster, the Celtics hope to be a much more competitive unit than the one that finished with a 25-57 record last season. It’s unlikely that we’ll see much of a jump statistically from Green, who averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last season, but a change in demeanour and approach could go a long way. Coach Brad Stevens wants his young players to be focussed on the defensive end and a team that moves the ball. Green, along with Rondo will be expected to set the tone and show the newest Celtics what it takes to play, and win in Boston.

Jeff Green will almost certainly be the Celtics’ starting small forward on opening night and despite the added depth on the wings will be expected to play a big part in Stevens’ rotation. His combination with Rondo and Avery Bradley will go a long way in determining just how successful the Celtics are this season, along with the development of their young front court players. Without the star-studded rosters of some other teams, the Celtics will rely on teamwork, ball-movement and defensive intensity to win games and Green will be one of the players Stevens relies on to lead by example.

Green’s ability to become a more consistent player and visible leader on the roster is not just a key for the Celtics’ season, but could also be an extremely rewarding development for Green himself. With the option to opt-out of the last year of his contract, this could be an audition for free agency for Green who could earn the biggest contract of his career as he enters his 30’s. While he does not have the upside of the likes of Gordan Hayward and Chandler Parsons, those players earned themselves max contracts this offseason with similar production to what Green is capable of. If he has a big season and ops-out, he could have a number of suitors in free agency and put the pressure on the Celtics to pay up to keep him around.

We hear every summer about players improving their game, hitting the weights or adding moves to their arsenal and quite often the results on the floor the following season is relatively the same. However, if Green really can focus on becoming a leader for the Celtics and it results in a more focussed, consistent player on the court, we could see a big improvement and potentially a very interesting free agency coming up at the end of the season.