If No Green, What Then?

[PosImpos]

Obviously, this is getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, but things are not looking good for the Celtics re: Jeff Green right now. 

ESPNForsberg Chris Forsberg
Celtics expect to announce more on Jeff Green tomorrow. He remains out. Danny Ainge won't talk on it; Green declines to talk to media.

ESPNForsberg Chris Forsberg
Danny Ainge said some results in on Jeff Green. Good or bad? "All based on perspective. But I really don’t want to talk about that."

ESPNForsberg Chris Forsberg
Doc on Jeff Green: "I’ve been around long enough to know that if you haven’t passed your physical yet, then there’s something going on."

Danny's quote seems especially worrying.  In context, the likely implication seems to be "Well, he may not play for a long while / ever again, but this physical may have saved his life."


So my question is, assuming the worst and Jeff Green does not play for the Celtics this year, what does that change about your view of the season?  Window closed?  Not a big difference?  Do you think we can still sign somebody who can fill his role no problem?  Should Danny more seriously consider blowing it up early?  Or is the quest for Banner 18 still on?

[celticinorlando]

well..we would be back we have been the last 3 years..PP playing big minutes...there is no way we can count on daniels to back him up

[theswitch]

Unfortunately, we'd be in some serious trouble if Green can't go this year. I don't really know what is out there that can fix this issue - Daniels and Sasha have been running with the first team with Pierce and Jeff out, and that's just not going to cut it folks.

[snively]

We'd probably just run with Daniels with Pavlovic seeing time against the bigger wings. 

Depressing thought.

[hpantazo]

if no Green, then trade one or two of the big three and blow it up, get some great picks in the upcoming draft and rebuild around Rondo.

[snively]

if no Green, then trade one or two of the big three and blow it up, get some great picks in the upcoming draft and rebuild around Rondo.

That's more than a bit extreme.

[Bankshot]

I hadn't heard about this.  What's going on with Green?  How did he get injured and what's the nature of the injury?  Did they know about this before they signed him?

[celticinorlando]

We'd probably just run with Daniels with Pavlovic seeing time against the bigger wings. 

Depressing thought.

until daniels exits with his annual injury

[PosImpos]

I hadn't heard about this.  What's going on with Green?  How did he get injured and what's the nature of the injury?  Did they know about this before they signed him?

a "red flag" came up in his physical and they got the test results back today, but they're not announcing them until tomorrow.

in the mean time, jeff hasn't practiced and his contract hasn't become official yet.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I hadn't heard about this.  What's going on with Green?  How did he get injured and what's the nature of the injury?  Did they know about this before they signed him?

Not about getting injured. He was signed, and failed his physical or whatever. So, they retesting.

[jdub1660]

How bout Richard Jefferson? Haven't read that he's signed anywhere...perfect experienced vet to play 6th man.
Score and defend against legit SFs

[nickagneta]

Couple of questions, and this probably would be best handled by the lawyers out there(Roy): Was the passing this physical a requirement for the $9 million contract to be considered valid and binding or is the contract in place and this was just a regular, beginning of the season physical that every player has to take?

Now if he doesn't pass this physical because it is a requirement of the contract, does Green go back to becoming a RFA and the contract is void?

If the physical is not tied to the contract and he has to miss the year would the Celtics have to show that this is a career ending injury to get cap relief and have insurance kick in or would they have to possibly go the legal route and try to get the contract voided stating that Green could never uphold his part of the contract?

This is all assuming that this is something very serious that would cause Green to miss the year.

[PosImpos]

How bout Richard Jefferson? Haven't read that he's signed anywhere...perfect experienced vet to play 6th man.
Score and defend against legit SFs

he'll probably find more than the minimum somewhere, but he'd be an option if he would be willing to take less money.  after all, he's getting paid millions of dollars by the Spurs still this season.

[vinnie]

This sounds worse now than it has at any time. Danny's quote is of extreme concern, and the fact that they are waiting until tomorrow to announce more, even though they have results back today, does not bode well. I just hope Jeff Green is okay, but the fact that he refuses to speak with the press is not a good sign in my opinion.

As for the impact on the team, in my opinion, they were not going to win it all any way. This probably moves them from a 3-4 seed to a 5-6 seed and maybe a first round out.

As far as the contract goes, if Green cannot go, I certainly hope the Celts can get out of it.

As far as finding a replacement, don't see how that can happen.

[PosImpos]

This sounds worse now than it has at any time. Danny's quote is of extreme concern, and the fact that they are waiting until tomorrow to announce more, even though they have results back today, does not bode well. I just hope Jeff Green is okay, but the fact that he refuses to speak with the press is not a good sign in my opinion.

As for the impact on the team, in my opinion, they were not going to win it all any way. This probably moves them from a 3-4 seed to a 5-6 seed and maybe a first round out.

As far as the contract goes, if Green cannot go, I certainly hope the Celts can get out of it.

As far as finding a replacement, don't see how that can happen.

yeah, i tend to agree with you, although im not quite as pessimistic about the possibility of finding a replacement.  if they could convince a player like richard jefferson to take less, or perhaps if they got michael redd and he had a bounce back year, they could be in more or less the same position.

but i think this just reinforces the idea that this is at best a 3rd or 4th seed with a 2nd round ceiling.  

in any case, if jeff green is not available for most or all of the season, the celtics need to find somebody young and capable of playing a significant number of minute a night, if for the sake of depth than for anything else.  paul pierce can't play 35 minutes a night anymore if we want him to be healthy for the playoffs.


i'd be interested to see if this prompts danny to make a trade, much like marquis's injury prompted him to make the jeff green trade last season.