The Celtics have expressed interest in reacquiring forward Jeff Green, Michael Scotto said on the latest episode of the HoopsHype Podcast. Green was a Celtic from 2010-15 and was coached by Brad Stevens from 2013-15. Stevens is now Boston’s president of basketball operations.
It’s unclear how motivated the Nuggets would be to trade Green after signing him in free agency this past offseason. He has started 24 games and averaged 24.7 minutes per contest in Denver this season while playing primarily at power forward and center. Still, the Nuggets have other options at power forward – including Aaron Gordon, JaMychal Green, and Zeke Nnaji – and are reportedly in the market for a backup center with more size, so it’s possible Jeff Green could be had.
Here are a few more notes on the Celtics:
- In addition to reiterating that Boston would be open to moving Dennis Schröder, Scotto said on the HoopsHype Podcast that he’s heard Aaron Nesmith is also available. Nesmith, 2020’s No. 14 overall pick, had a decent rookie year but has seen his playing time and production decline this season.
- The Celtics have made several trade calls out of due diligence, including inquiring on Suns center Jalen Smith, according to Scotto. Smith had his third-year option for 2022/23 turned down by Phoenix, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but whichever team has his Bird rights won’t be able to offer a starting salary higher than $4,670,160, the amount of that declined option.
- Scotto suggests Oklahoma City is a team to watch if and when the Celtics look to trade Juan Hernangomez to sneak below the luxury tax line. The Thunder are more than $20MM below the NBA’s minimum salary floor, so any team looking to dump a contract will likely call them first.
Be funny and ironic if the Celtics end up trading Nesmith for Jeff Green. He’s the guy they ended up getting with that hyped up future first rounder when they traded Green back in 2015.
The Celtics can’t trade Schroder without getting another PG back in return. Peyton Pritchard is not a starting PG in the NBA. Boston has done a horrible job with their mid-first round draft picks lately. Other than Robert Williams, they have struck out on NeSmith, Langford, etc. and that is the reason why this team is so bad right now. It’s time to move Smart and nearly everyone else except for Tatum & Brown. Boston is going nowhere fast and needs a hard reboot.
Hard to know if this is true or not, none of the Celtics recent draft picks have had enough consistent playing time. I agree that Pritchard is likely not a starter, but he showed last year he can be a serviceable back up. Nesmith needs more run, and I think Langford isn’t utilized correctly under Udoka. He’s not a 3 and D guy just yet, but the current coaching staff plays him like one.
I think Pritchard could be a starter is he was playing next to, like, Luka or LeBron. But the lack of play-making from J&J makes it difficult to start a non-passing PG.
Not that DS is John Stockton, but he at least can create off the dribble to an extent.
This trade would work:
Boston Gets:
Jeff Green and Vlatko Cancar
Denver gets: Romeo Langford, Bruno Fernando, 1 unprotected future pick, second-round pick
This Gives Denver the option to go either full rebuild of to save money for a big or someone on the buyout market and they acquire a draft pick.
Now that I think about it, it would look better like this:
Denver: Langford, Fernando, unprotected future first
Boston: Jeff Green, Vlatko, protected 2nd, Dozier
This version makes it look more even
The Celtics should be open to trading Nesmith and Langford and Pritchard. Problem is I’m not sure many teams are lining up to add them to their rosters.
Pritchard is the best of the three by far and he’s 6-1 with a 9.8 PER, a shooting specialist with less than 50% TS%
Schroeder has some value but given that he was available this summer as a free agent and ended up signing for a portion of the MLE with Boston, I’m not sure how many suitors he has.
Him shooting 32% from 3 this season probably isn’t going to help Stevens’ bargaining power.
Hence why I would keep someone like Langford. Then again, perhaps a contender would value his already elite defense and pay accordingly. But if not, no sense moving him for a lower return when there would still be some potential there. I also don’t think Udoka has utilized him as well as he could.
The others can go, but as you said the returns may be small. Still, there needs to be at least some roster turnover at the deadline.
Josh Richardson, Enes Freedom and a second round pick for JaMychal and Jeff Green.
Nuggets said they wanted a back up centre and a wing defender. Give them exactly what they want.
Richardson can either start or be a back up. Enes would be a very productive back up, can score for fun down low and gets after it on the backboard. Think Enes could fit in well behind Jokic.
For the Celtics you get Jeff Green just like you wanted. You also get JaMychal who you can either keep or send away also. I’d suggest starting Schroder Brown Tatum G. Williams and Horford and off the bench have Pritchard Smart Langford/Nesmith Jeff Green and Rob Williams.
Those starters should be good defensively and offensively Grant Williams gives you some spacing. Off the bench Pritchard and Smart would make a good combo and Jeff Green and Rob Williams would too. They should also be nice defensively and should score at will.