Free agent forward Jeff Green is out for the year after surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm, and the Celtics voided his contract when he failed a preseason physical. Nonetheless, he's been attending the team's home games this year, occasionally sitting on the team's bench, and CSNNE.com's A. Sherrod Blakely believes it's clear Green prefers to re-sign with Boston as an unrestricted free-agent this summer (Twitter link). Michael Lee of The Washington Post adds, via Twitter, that Green still has a home in the Boston area.
Green's pending unrestricted free agency comes about by an odd set of circumstances, and that's not simply because of his heart ailment. When the Celtics voided the one-year, $9MM offer after his failed physical, they also withdrew their qualifying offer to him, making him an unrestricted free agent instead of a restricted one, which allows any team to sign Green to a deal without giving the Celtics a chance to match it.
Perhaps Green feels a debt of gratitude over the move, which the Celtics didn't have to make. Still, with the expiring contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Celtics will have plenty of cap space this summer, and with Green coming off surgery, he won't command the type of contract he otherwise would. The former No. 5 overall pick has career averages of 13.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG, and was acquired by the Celtics last year at the trading deadline.
I hope he comes back but more importantly he is fully healthy.