Jeff Green came into an almost impossible situation with the Celtics last season — this was a team on a title quest and he was traded for a starter loved by fans and teammates in Kendrick Perkins. He walked in the door with everybody already looking at him askew.
Then he struggled to find his place. He looked like a square peg trying to fit in the Celtics round hole. However, with Marquis Daniels out he was pushed into playing time — sometimes in key moments — and like he did in Oklahoma City Green impressed only in flashes.
He admitted to Marc Spears of Yahoo the transition was hard.“They’ve been together for a number of years,” Green said of the Celtics. “They’ve already won a championship, they’ve already have a system, they already have their chemistry and that bond on that team.
“It was tough to go into that situation.”
No doubt, psychologically it was tough. Although he did leave a contender where he was a third option to go to a place where he just had to find a spot as a role player with the pressure off him. But that’s still an adjustment.
Here’s the thing — the Jeff Green that played with the Celtics had an almost identical production to the one that played for the Thunder. Exact same guy. His minutes decreased and he came off the bench in Boston, so fewer points per game. But his efficiency didn’t change, nor did his production.
Green’s PER was identical from OKC to Boston last season at 12.9 (and it has never reached the league average of 15). Green shot at a higher percentage in Boston (48.5 percent to 43.7 percent) and his points scored per 36 minutes played was the same before and after the trade.
Bottom line Boston — the Green you saw is the Green you get. Maybe an off-season of working out with the Celtics and a full training camp would have helped his comfort level, but that is out the window now. And like we said, he had that with the Thunder and had the same production.
He wants to come back to Boston, but with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement it is all going to be about money. And Green may not get as much as he envisions.
