Boston Celtics, Gerald Green Nearing Agreement On Deal

Continuing to bolster their roster, the Boston Celtics are nearing on a one-year agreement to bring in journeyman guard Gerald Green.

It’s been a landmark offseason for the Boston Celtics, but they’re far from being done making moves.

First reported by Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, the Celtics are nearing an agreement on a one-year, guaranteed deal with journeyman guard Gerald Green.

While it’s yet to be finalized or announced, the deal for Green takes him back to the place where he got his first chance in the NBA as the Celtics drafted him 18th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft.

Green spent two seasons in Boston from 2005-07 before being included in the deal that brought Kevin Garnett to Boston, which formed the Celtics’ famed Big Three of Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

Although he has since bounced around the league and the world over his 11-year career, Green’s been able to find his footing in the NBA in recent years.

That’s partially due to Green becoming a reliable but streaky three-point shooter since re-entering the league five years ago.

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For example, Green’s best shooting season came in the 2013-14 campaign where he shot 45 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep on 15. 8 points per game as a member of the Phoenix Suns.

However, Green’s improved three-point shooting comes on a high volume of three-point shots as he has exceeded a three-point attempt rate of at least forty percent in each of his last four seasons, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Couple that with his streaky shooting and you’ll see why Green has bounced around from team to team around the league.

There’s no better example of that than looking at Green’s performance as a member of the Miami Heat last season, as Green shot 39 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range on 8.9 points per game.

As a result of his ineffective shooting, Green’s playing time dropped as he went on to average just 15.7 minutes per game in 22 games after the All-Star Break.

Of course, this all raises interesting questions for the Celtics and in particular, what Green’s role within the team will look like next year.

Obviously, they’d have to hope Green can reclaim some of his high shooting prowess from only a couple of years ago.

Just that alone would be a major boon for a Celtics team that struggled mightily from beyond the arc last year, as they ranked 28th in the league in three-point shooting percentage.

With a guaranteed deal reportedly in place, Green will certainly have the chance to make an impact coming off the bench and help the Celtics in areas where others have struggled.

Also, the move to bring in Green puts pressure on some of Boston’s young prospects like R.J. Hunter and James Young. According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, the two, along with others, could be battling to find a place within the team’s roster:

"As it stands, Young, Hunter, Bentil, and Holland could be in position to fight for the final two roster spots, a league source said. The team is still holding out hope that Hunter or Young — if not both — could emerge as a dependable shooter, and it is also plausible that one of them could vault past Green with a stirring training camp"

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How this all plays out remains to be seen, but for now, Green gets a chance to possibly find a new home in the place where it all started 11 years ago.