The Sacramento Kings are in need of some wings to beef up their bench depth, assumingHarrison Barnes opts in to his current deal or restructures his contract. Corey Brewer, who eventually became the primary backup to Barnes after being acquired, is also a free agent so the Kings are thin at the position
Danny Green’s four year, $40 million contract ends this summer and he’ll definitely be a free agent of interest for multiple teams around the league. Green originally signed this contract with the San Antonio Spurs but was traded in the Kawhi Leonard deal that sent them to the Toronto Raptors.
In the regular season, Green averaged 10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 46.5 percent shooting from the field and 45.5 percent from three, one of the elite marks in the league.
Just a season ago, Green shot 36.3 percent from three making his jump a ridiculously good one.
The majority of Green’s shot selection comes from behind the arc. He attempts 7.9 shots a game in which 5.4 of those came from deep. He can hit mid-range jumpers but doesn’t attempt them at a high volume and is a decent rim finisher.
When evaluating Green’s play, he surely fits the ‘3-and-D’ role that you’d like for wings to have. Green is definitely a proven three point shooter but purely on catch and shoot attempts.
He attempted 57.6 percent of his shots on catch and shoot threes this season on 4.5 attempts a game. Green converted a marvelous 47.4 percent of the time on these situations.
However, he’s not a shot creator. Green is best playing off ball and taking shots without dribbling, because he’s not a talented ball handler. In fact, 66.3 percent of his overall attempts came with zero dribbles. Green also boasted an effective field goal percentage of 69.6 on overall attempts with no dribbles. Attempts when dribbling at least once only occurred 12 percent or less, but his percentages for those weren’t pleasing despite minimal attempts.
Green also enjoyed a true shooting percentage of 63.2, which was a career high. He’s also a guy that doesn’t need a high usage to be effective, illustrated by his 14.1 usage rate percentage. That mark is the 17th highest on the Raptors (min. 20 games played).
He posted 3.0 offensive win shares, his highest mark since the 2014-15 season when he had a 4.0 mark. Last season, he had 0.1 OWS so he improved considerably.
Green averaged just under one steal a game at 0.9 (his career average is 1.0) and had a steal percentage of 1.6 which has steadily dropped season after season.
However, he’s still a high IQ defensive player. He’s pretty adept at intercepting passing lanes and makes plays with his hands at the right time like in the play above. He knows when a steal opportunity is available and can take advantage when it’s there.
Green also averaged 1.6 deflections and recovered 61.7 percent of loose balls, both solid marks at the forward spot.
Another underrated aspect of Green’s game is how he’s one of the better blocking guards/forwards in the league. His 0.66 blocks per game ranked second among qualified guards behind Bradley Beal’s 0.71, per ESPN.
It’s a pretty solid mark for the 6’6” combo player who also contests shots at a good mark. Among forwards who played more than 30 games, Green ranked #13 in contested three point shots at 3.8 a game. He contested 8.5 overall shots which for his height, is one of the best. Every other forward who contested more shots were much taller forwards especially players who played at the four spot.
Guarding on the perimeter, opponents shot 38.8 percent from three on 4.8 attempts a game which isn’t as good as his last year performance when opponents shot 34 percent. Green has been much better in the playoffs, allowing a splendid 31.2 percent on 5.4 attempts. Overall in the playoffs, players are shooting 42.7 percent when Green is guarding. In the regular season, the overall percentage Green allowed was 48.4.
His defensive box plus/minus was at 1.2, his lowest since the 2011-12 season but a better rating than other wings. He also added 2.9 defensive win shares to his statline.
The soon-to-be 32-year-old, Green will be a solid addition to any team even if the Raptors keep him. In fact, the Raptors were a +14 per 100 possessions when Green was on the court.
Green is capable of playing the two and three, hits the three ball at a good clip and is one of the better defenders on the perimeter in the league but 68 percent of his minutes coming at the two this year, would Green want to be a backup at the three?
Playing Green at shooting guard wouldn’t make sense with Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but if Harrison Barnes comes back, Green would have to be a backup. With him being a key player on a championship caliber team, I don’t see how he’d accept a backup role on a team hoping to make the playoffs.
Based on what I’ve seen, I’d offer Green a two year, $25 million contract with little hope of him accepting. His biggest value on offense is easily his deep ball but his price raises with his defensive value. Green is definitely one of the better options in the market but because I don’t think he’s a realistic target, he’s one of the lower end wings on my list.