With Pierce on the roster: not worth the cap space.
I find all the posts about Green being the future hilarious. We weren't gonna sign Perk what makes people think we're gonna mess up our 2012 free agency for this kid?
There is no way that Jeff Green is "the" future. He may be part of the future, but in my opinion, this guy is not someone around whom you build a team.
Oh, I agree with this. He is not a star. However, I think he is a quality 2-way starter with the potential to be a borderline All-Star. Those guys are worth above MLE type money, and they are good pieces to have around your core stars.
Now, the question is whether the C's should pay it...and that is a tough question, given their cap situation.
Personally, I would be less hesitant to give Green that kind of money than Perk, simply because I think Green is a more well rounder player, and more importantly, I think he will be just as good if the team is mediocre than if they are great, where I think Perk would be significantly worse if he was not on a good team that can hide his offensive liabilities.
Because Green is such a well rounded player, I think he is more likely to keep his value to be able to be moved if needed than a one way player would be, just because one-way players often get exposed too much when they get on a bad team, and then they become albatross contracts.