The Brooklyn Nets made an earth-shattering move, adding James Harden to a roster that already had superstars Kevin Durant and James Harden.
The Brooklyn Nets made an earth-shattering move, adding James Harden to a roster that already had superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Note that the Nets still have three roster spots available for additional moves, so they might not be done making acquisitions quite yet. ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported that Brooklyn can offer the taxpayer midlevel exception ($5.7M) and the minimum exception.
He also speculated that they could receive a disabled player exception ($5.7M) for the injury suffered by Spencer Dinwiddie, who is out for the remainder of the season with a partially torn ACL.
Here is how the roster looks, as it stands right now, to get a better idea of what holes must be filled.
Friday’s loss was a tough one for the Brooklyn Nets, but one veteran is making sure the team isn’t discouraged by the loss to the Hawks.
Tough games like Brooklyn’s 114-96 loss to the Atlanta Hawks is a prime example of why it’s important to have veterans with strong voices on the roster. While Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan have all been around for plenty of time, it was Jeff Green who made sure the team stuck together after the loss.
“What he said was 100% accurate,” Joe Harris said of Green’s message on a Zoom call with reporters Friday. “The game was pretty similar to the last time we played against them, but we had just played particularly well offensively and it saves us. On a night like tonight, you hope your defense is a little bit better, but it was about the same and the offense wasn’t there. … We know what we have to clean up.”
Durant was the first to harp on Green’s message after the loss, standing by his longtime friend. And while Green revealed others also chimed in after the loss, but it’s clear his message struck a chord.
“This is a long season. The main goal is at the end of the season, it’s not right now,” Green said on a Zoom call with reporters after Friday’s loss. “So, if we continue to watch film, learn where we can better ourselves, better our team, find ways we can helps this team win, we’ll get to the end goal. But right now, we just have to focus on what we need to do to accomplish to win these games that we should win to prepare us for where we wanna be.”
Although he was able to return in the Brooklyn’s Nets loss, Jeff Green had to get work done above his right eye on Sunday.
After leaving the game early in the third quarter due to a right knee strain, Spencer Dinwiddie was joined by one of his Nets teammates in the visiting locker room in Charlotte well before the final buzzer. Jeff Green had to leave for the locker room after he took an elbow to the face from Bismack Biyombo in the pant in the fourth quarter.
Biyombo’s left elbow wound up catching Green just above the Brooklyn forward’s right eye, and he had to receive stitches as a result. However, Green was made available to return for the Nets, sporting a headband as he made his return to the bench.
Green did not return to the floor for the Nets until there were 5.3 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with two assists and one personal foul in 13 minutes of action without attempting a single shot.
Kevin Durant and Jeff Green were both selected in the 2007 NBA draft and started their NBA careers with the Seattle SuperSonics.
It’s been 10 years since Kevin Durant and Jeff Green started an NBA season wearing the same uniform.
A lot has changed for the members of the 2007 NBA draft class, including the uniforms they now wear as they prepare to take the court as Brooklyn Nets teammates to start 2020-21.
One thing that hasn’t changed since 2010-11, though, is Green and Durant’s relationship.
“Just the chance that we have to compete for a championship, but obviously doing it with somebody I call one of my brothers,” Green said on a Zoom call with reporters on Thursday, “being from the same area, coming in at the same year — obviously our careers are on different paths — but just having this opportunity to be alongside him, to have this experience is gonna be all that and more, coming where we come from.”
Green is also reunited with his previous head coach Mike D’Antoni, who’s now an assistant in Brooklyn — and also the one who gave Green a shot to play center in Houston when the Rockets attempted to win by only playing small ball in 2019-20.
“It’s great, saw him the other day, talked about the small window of memories we had together,” Green said. “I was very effective under his offensive influence. So, hopefully, that can translate here to help this team in any way possible.
“But I’m excited to be alongside him, coach [Steve] Nash and the personnel that we have on this team. I think it’s going to be a great year.”
There are Phoenix Suns and Oklahoma City Thunder reunions going on in Brooklyn in 2020-21.
It’s been a while since Jeff Green called Kevin Durant his teammate, but he can finally do so again with the Nets announcing on Monday the forward has officially signed with Brooklyn.
A fellow Maryland native, Green was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 2007 NBA draft No. 5 overall — just two picks after the Seattle SuperSonics took Kevin Durant. However, the Celtics would include Green in the package that helped deliver them Ray Allen, pairing the forward up with Durant in Seattle.
The two would play alongside one another in both Seattle and Oklahoma City until the middle of 2010-11, when the Thunder traded Green back to Boston. The 2010-11 season also happened to be now-Nets assistant coach Royal Ivey’s first season playing in Oklahoma City.
Kevin Durant talks about his relationship with Jeff Green:
The Nets did not announce the specifics of the deal, but Michael Scotto of USA Today SMG’s HoopsHype is reporting Green agreed to a one-year deal on the veteran minimum.
Four Celtics alumni in total signed with new teams today.
Several former Boston Celtics alumni are signing new deals around the NBA today while Boston fans await to see what the team’s front office has planned after the departure of veteran swingman Gordon Hayward.
Earlier in the day, the Celtics Wire reported on former Boston guard Avery Bradley joining the Miami Heat for a 2-year, $11.6 million deal, and former teammate Jeff Green was announced to have left the Houston Rockets to join the Brooklyn Nets, per The Athletic’s Sham’s Charania.
The deal will be for the league’s veteran minimum according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, suggesting he did not have an offer in wait from the Rockets as they overhaul their roster.
Jae Crowder to Phoenix: three years, almost $30 million, AP is told.
Green and Bradley are joined by former Celtics forward Jae Crowder, who will sign a deal with the Phoenix Suns worth $30 million over three years according to the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds, who will leave the Miami Heat to his former teammate Bradley.
Ex-Boston and recent Los Angeles Lakers champion Rajon Rondo will join the Atlanta Hawks for a two-year, $15 million deal according to Charania, completing the four former Celtics’ free agency activity for the day so far.
With the Celtics’ options steadily shrinking as other signings happen around the league, it may not be out of the question for other Boston alumni to end up on the roster with Aron Baynes, Isaiah Thomas and Evan Turner still on the market, but for now the team’s planned direction is unknown.
Houston could be looking for a new backup center in free agency, now that veteran Jeff Green has chosen to sign with Brooklyn.
The Houston Rockets could be looking for a new backup center in free agency after versatile veteran Jeff Green chose to sign with Brooklyn.
Green will make the veteran’s minimum salary with the Nets, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, which means that Houston was presumably not outbid after speaking with the 6-foot-8 big man on Friday night. All indications were that the Rockets wanted to retain his services after Green’s successful stint with the team at the end of the 2019-20 season.
Instead, Green — an East Coast native — simply preferred the fit with the Nets, it appears. There also seems to be a personal connection, since Green and Brooklyn superstar Kevin Durant were teammates in Seattle and Oklahoma City early in their NBA careers.
Green averaged 12.2 points (56.4% FG) and 2.9 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game with the Rockets last season, largely as the team’s backup center. While newcomer Christian Wood will likely start at that position in the 2020-21 season, Houston is still looking for a potential backup there.
Because the Rockets are taking in Wood as part of a sign-and-trade, the Rockets will have a hard salary cap this season at the luxury tax “apron” level of about $138.9 million in total payroll. As a result, the minimum salary is the most the Rockets could realistically offer to Green or other free agents, since they are already tight on financial space.
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The Brooklyn Nets and Jeff Green have agreed to a 1-year deal for the veteran minimum, league sources told @hoopshype. The Athletic first reported an agreement.
“Among their own free agents, the Rockets are expected to seek to bring back center/forward Jeff Green,” Jonathan Feigen writes.
The Rockets are likely to make an attempt at re-signing veteran big man Jeff Green once the NBA’s 2020 free agency period opens on Friday, per longtime beat writer Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
“Among their own free agents, the Rockets are expected to seek to bring back center/forward Jeff Green,” Feigen writes.
Green averaged 12.2 points (56.4% FG) and 2.9 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game with the Rockets last season. He frequently played at center in Mike D’Antoni’s smaller lineups, though if retained, he could also be an option at power forward if new coach Stephen Silas opts to play bigger.
Because Green has only played in Houston for one season, the Rockets do not have any Bird or “Early Bird” rights to retain him. Effectively, they will be on a level financial playing field with other contenders, some of whom are expected to show interest in the 34-year-old.
Though Houston is above the league’s salary cap, the Rockets do have various exceptions that could theoretically be used on Green (as do other teams). However, using one of those (or part) on Green could be prohibitive to the team’s chances at luring any external upgrades. As such, the Rockets could be hoping to sign him at the minimum salary.
Before Houston signed Green to a one-year minimum contract in late February, the 6-foot-8 big man was left unsigned by any team for almost two months. What remains to be seen is whether Green’s performance late in the season (including the playoffs) turned enough heads to lift his value from being unsigned for weeks to potentially getting large offers. The answer could come once free agency opens at 5:00 p.m. Central.
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Rockets prepare for crucial free agent shopping with extra cash to spend https://t.co/KAszCFMHIh
The Rockets signed Green to a minimum contract in February, but it remains to be seen if they can keep him for that amount in free agency.
Coming off a strong performance in the 2020 NBA playoffs, Houston Rockets forward Jeff Green appears likely to receive interest from other title contenders in the upcoming free agency period.
In his latest column, Shams Charania of The Athletic writes:
Forward Jeff Green helped himself entering free agency this offseason — averaging 11.6 points, five rebounds, and 42.6 percent 3-point shooting in 12 playoff games for the Rockets. Green is now expected to receive interest from a slew of contending teams.
From Houston’s perspective, the big question is whether that “interest” is at the league’s minimum salary level, or if any would go beyond that. Free agency is expected to begin in late November or early December.
Sources: Anthony Davis plans to opt out of contract and re-sign with the Lakers.
Before the Rockets signed Green to a one-year minimum contract in late February, the 6-foot-8 big man was left unsigned by any team for almost two months. What remains to be seen is whether Green’s playoff performance turned enough heads to lift his value from being unsigned for weeks to potentially getting offers larger than the minimum.
At 34 years old, any contract offer to Green will likely be of the short-term variety. What’s at issue for the Rockets and other contenders — nearly all of whom are over the league’s salary cap — is the price point.
While the Rockets do have various salary cap exceptions that could be used to give Green additional money, those exceptions are their primary means of bringing in external upgrades from other teams.
Midway through the 2018-19 season, the Rockets signed veteran guard Austin Rivers to a contract and convinced him to stay for another minimum deal in the 2019 offseason. They could use a similar template with Green in 2020, but his valuation by other teams (presumably contenders, given his age) might throw a wrench into that plan.
Another issue is who Houston hires as its next head coach, and how Green might fit into his system. Outgoing coach Mike D’Antoni frequently used Green in smaller lineups as a versatile center with ball-handling and passing skills, but it’s not yet known how the new coach will opt to play. If all offers are at the minimum, how Green views his role in each system could determine whether he re-signs or heads elsewhere.
