Getty Danny Green of the Toronto Raptors celebrates the team's NBA championship at XS Nightclub at Wynn Las Vegas.
Coming off his second NBA championship – this one with the Raptors – Danny Green signed a lucrative deal to come and join the Los Angeles Lakers. While no longer on the Raptors, Green decided to head to a Toronto Blue Jays game and get some pre-game hacks in.
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WATCH: Lakers’ Danny Green Takes Some Ugly Batting Practice Hacks Before Blue Jays Game
Your daily reminder that baseball is hard: here’s NBA champion Danny Green taking some batting practice swings before today’s #BlueJays game
As the Michael Jordan experiment showed, baseball is an extremely unforgiving sport. Requiring an entirely different set of skills than most other sports, baseball often makes athletes from other sports look surprisingly human. Despite being one of the league’s premier “3 and D” wings, Green was ill-equipped to even handle batting practice level pitching as he struggled to make contact.
While Green and the Raptors gave Toronto a magical postseason run, it seems unlikely that their baseball counterparts – the Blue Jays – will be able to do the same. Sitting a staggering 23 games under .500 and in fourth place in a loaded AL East, the Blue Jays are nearly mathematically eliminated from playoff contention in early August. However, Green’s championship presence may have helped offer a boost as the Blue Jays took down the AL East’s first-place juggernaut, the Yankees in an 8-2 beatdown.
Danny Green’s Role on the 2019-2020 Lakers
Signed to a multi-year big-money deal, Danny Green is fully expected to step into the starting lineup and provide the Lakers with consistent three-point shooting and hard-nosed perimeter defense. A catch and shoot specialist, Green is seemingly a perfect fit alongside the league’s premier drive and kick weapon, LeBron James.
While the Lakers also will most likely have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Avery Bradley, and Troy Daniels available off the bench, Green should be expected to see the lion’s share of the minutes. The owner of the league’s second-best three-point percentage last season, Green should find himself firmly entrenched as the starter unless he somehow shoots himself out of the role.
Even if the Lakers decide to get creative with their lineup and drop a guard from the rotation in favor of moving Kyle Kuzma into a starting role, don’t expect that guard to be Danny Green. While Green functions best as a defender on the wing, his ability to harass ball-handlers would make him a viable option to chase down opposing point guards on the perimeter while being able to cede the primary playmaking duties on the offensive end to James.
The Lakers have high hopes for next season and Green’s presence looks to be a major component in their plans for a deep playoff run. His ability to space the floor and create attacking lanes for Davis and James is invaluable as we all saw last year exactly what happens when a LeBron-led team isn’t able to consistently make their open looks from deep. While he won’t function as a first, second, or third option – Green’s ability to continue to play as a high level “3 and D” wing will allow the Lakers to operate at their best on both ends of the court.
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WATCH: Lakers’ Danny Green Takes Some Ugly Batting Practice Hacks