Jeff Green, Orlando Magic Agree To One-Year Deal
The Orlando Magic reached an agreement on a one-year deal with Jeff Green on Friday afternoon, concluding a busy opening day of Free Agency.
According to Jeff Zillgitt of USA TODAY Sports, the Orlando Magic and veteran wing Jeff Green have come to an agreement on a one-year deal worth $15 million.
This signing continued a busy opening day of free agency for the Magic, who earlier agreed to terms with veteran point guard D.J. Augustin on a four-year deal worth $29 million, while also coming to terms with Evan Fournier on a five-year, $85 million contract.
As I wrote earlier in the day, the Magic were likely going to turn their attention to address the wing position, and with the signing of Fournier and now Jeff Green, the team has done just that.
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There is legitimate hope around the Orlando camp that Fournier continues to develop along his current trajectory as exhibited by his new contract, but the Green signing gives the team athleticism on the wing that they have been searching for since inexplicably trading away Tobias Harris back in February.
In Jeff Green, the Magic snag an eight-year veteran, whose stops along the way before Orlando include the Thunder, Celtics, Grizzlies and Clippers. Last season, Green posted modest numbers as a member of both the Grizzlies and Clippers, finishing the campaign with 11.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game on 43.0 percent shooting from the floor overall and 31.5 percent from three.
It seems that for years, teams have been hoping that Green would develop a steady outside jumper. To this point, as he enters his ninth season in the league this October, his shooting stroke has been extremely streaky.
With Fournier back in the fold, Green can focus on driving to the basket, which is one of his strengths as a player. Green will not be relied upon quite as much to knock down jump shots as he would have without a player like Fournier on the roster. On a one-year contract with short money, it makes sense for the Magic to at least give him a shot at establishing his value once again as an offensive player.
Will Orlando’s strategy work? In recent weeks they have acquired a young forward with a strong defensive resume in Serge Ibaka, have traded away their former No. 2 overall pick in Victor Oladipo, and have dumped the salary of versatile stretch forward Ersan Ilyasova.
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Their offseason signings have encompassed two wings and a backup point guard, and now the core of the roster should be well on its way to completion, outside of filling in some gaps on the back-end with additional veterans.
An area of need is a backup big man behind the Magic’s young starting center, Nikola Vucevic. A name to watch for over the coming days is former Pacers center Ian Mahinmi, who, according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge, has received preliminary interest from the the Magic.
With his size and athleticism in the low-post, Mahinmi would be a palatable option to bring off the bench to rebound and defend.
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For now though, the Magic will likely wait out the market on the remainder of their targets. After a busy first day of free agency, there’s little doubt that the team has improved from where they were at season’s end, and will look to continue to upgrade and improve throughout the rest of the offseason.