2019 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far
Danny Green: 2 years, $30 million (Los Angeles Lakers)
Free agent guard Danny Green will sign a two-year, $30M deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers missed out on Kawhi Leonard, but that shouldn’t skew anyone’s opinion on the addition of Danny Green. While he’s obviously not a perennial MVP candidate or one of the elite two-way players in the game, Green is the exact kind of 3-and-D addition the Lakers need to put around LeBron James.
Frankly, it’s a bit of a relief L.A. was even able to salvage a deal with a respectable two-way wing of Green’s ilk at this stage in free agency. With so many reputable names off the board within the first 48 hours of free agency, Kawhi’s deliberate decision-making was robbing the Lakers of quite a few chances of filling out the rest of their roster, particularly in the second unit.
Landing one of the league’s best perimeter defenders and a career 40.4 percent 3-point shooter who canned 45.5 percent of his triples last year is a terrific consolation prize from the sting of losing the Klaw. Even on a slight overpay, it’s only a two-year deal that allows for flexibility and immediately upgrades the starting five of a legitimate title contender. Missing out on Leonard would’ve been one thing, but missing out on Green too would have been damning.
Grade: A-