Danny Ainge is wheeling and dealing.
In the wake of sending Brandan Wright to Phoenix, it appears the Celtics are about to finalize a deal that sends Jeff Green to the Memphis Grizzlies, reports Adrain Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Boston is nearing an agreement to send Jeff Green to Memphis for Tayshaun Prince and a first-round pick, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 9, 2015
Boston and Memphis awaiting the final nod from a third team in deal to have an agreement on Jeff Green trade, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 9, 2015
Marc Stein of ESPN confirmed this.
ESPN sources say Jeff Green is essentially a member of the Grizzlies now. Teams have agreed to the deal and hope to complete it tonight
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 9, 2015
This is going to be for Tayshaun Prince (owed $7.7 million this season on an expiring deal) and a future first round pick. (That has been the buzz around the league for a while, anyway.)
For the Celtics, it’s about going all in on the rebuild.
If Green deal is finalized tonight, Boston GM Danny Ainge will potentially have 11 first-round picks over the next four years.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 9, 2015
For Memphis, it’s about going all in for this year. Which they should do.
The Grizzlies are one of the teams in the mix in the West as potential contenders but what they needed was an upgrade on the wing and someone who can knock down threes. Green is athletic as they come and is a career 34 percent form three (although that is down to 30.5 percent this year, something that might improve with the better looks on a better team). Green fits their needs.
If you’re about to put in the comments, “they should have just kept Rudy Gay” you need to go back to basketball class. Gay demanded and took a much higher percentage of the shots and offense in Memphis than Green will (the offense was too Gay centered before). The Grizzlies offense now will continue to flow through MVP candidate Marc Gasol first and then to guys like Zach Randolph, Mike Conley and Green. If he accepts his role Green is a big upgrade for the Grizzlies.
Green doesn’t really help their defense, which for the past month has been Memphis’ real issue. But if that end comes around they remain right in the mix.