Danny Green saw his role shift a lot with Kawhi Leonard out basically all season. He spent a lot more time at the three and defending the other team’s best perimeter offensive player (not sharing that duty with Leonard), and he held up well on that end, but he played seemingly out of position. Offensively, his game slipped. He shot 36.6 percent from three and his true shooting percentage of 50.9 was well below the league average. Certainly, some of that was due to the lack of Leonard — so teams didn’t help off Green the same way, plus Green was now the third option — but he seemed to take a step back as well.
Combine that season with a tight free agent market, and Green may well have not seen the $10 million he is under contract for with a player option. So, he is opting in, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
San Antonio Spurs guard Danny Green has exercised his $10M contract option for the 2018-19 season and will stay with the team, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 25, 2018
It’s the smart move by Green. Next season there will be a lot more teams with cap space to spend, if he bounces back (he just turned 31) he can get a bigger payday.
This is also good for the Spurs, whatever their team looks like next season. Professional leadership in the locker room will always matter. Plus, he could be a good trading chip at the deadline.
