Getty Darvin Ham of the Lakers has a problem. Could Danny Green be the solution?
Danny Green has been with six different franchises in his 15 years in the NBA, so he finds his name closely associated with a wide range of teams. He also, this week, finds himself the subject of Lakers rumors.
In San Antonio they surely think of Green as a Spur, since he came of age with the team and helped shoot them to the 2014 NBA championship. In Toronto, he was the other portion of the Kawhi Leonard trade, a key role player that helped the Canadians to their greatest hoops glory. But then there are the Lakers. Deep down, Danny Green is a Laker.
Because Green helped the team to the 2020 NBA bubble championship and once a Laker always a Laker. Right?
Well, how about once a Laker now a Laker again?
“I will say this though. Toronto is up there with the Lakers in terms of fanbase…There’s only 1 team for the whole country. Even in the States, every time I go anywhere there’s a lot of Canadians.”
– Danny Green
(Via @TidalLeague )
That is the suggestion from Bleacher Report this week, as the site listed what it calls its top “sneaky” free-agent moves around the NBA. Though Green played only two games this season for the Sixers after signing with Philadelphia in September, B/R is pitching the return of Danny Green as a solution to one of the big early-season problems Darvin Ham‘s Lakers have had.
Lakers Rumors: 3-Point Shooting a Need
That problem, of course, is shooting. The Lakers simply do not do it very well and in today’s NBA, that is a costly deficiency. Overall, the Lakers are shooting 34.8% from the 3-point line, 24th in the NBA. They’re taking 30.5 3s from the arc per game, and making 10.6 per game, 28th in the league in both categories. They’re hoping that the return of point guard Gabe Vincent from injury will bolster the team’s efforts from the perimeter, but remember, Vincent shot just 33.4% from the 3-point line last year.
“Danny Green could help fill the Lakers’ shooting void. He’s done that before. The veteran swingman was a rotation regular for the 2019-20 title team, ranking second on that squad with 120 triples.
“His defense has eroded with age—he turned 36 in June—but his three-ball is as fiery as ever (43.2 percent in limited action last season). He also has enough veteran know-how to find his fit on the fly.”
Green is a career 40.0% 3-point shooter who holds up well in the playoffs–he shoots 38.8% from the arc in the postseason.
Danny Green to Return to Sixers?
But Lakers rumors (or any other team) around Green are sketchy. That’s because when the Sixers made the trade that sent James Harden to Los Angeles, with a horde of players—Robert Covington, Marcus Morris, K.J. Martin and Nic Batum—coming back, it was Green who was the low man on the roster and was waived.
Green has been linked to the Sixers, though, for a possible return in the coming weeks. Chris Haynes of B/R reported that such a reunion, “has not been ruled out.”
B/R Sources: While Danny Green was disappointed by how the final days of his tenure in Philadelphia unfolded, there remains an affinity between the three-time NBA champion and 76ers organization. Neither side has ruled out a return should a roster spot become available.
Before training camp, Green seemed adamant about winning with Philadelphia, a team with which he has now had three stints.
“There’s definitely a sense of unfinished business here,” Green said in September. “I’ve been able to win and lucky enough to win in other cities. I would love to be able to bring that aspect to this city — the city of Philadelphia and finally stay healthy, first and foremost, and play great basketball at the end of the year in April, May, and June — getting us where we need to be.”
That could still be how his situation plays out. But the Lakers, too, have a hole Green could fill. And it would be hard for him to resist if the Lakers did offer him a deal to come back. Once a Laker, and all that.
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Lakers Rumors: L.A. Urged to Reunite With Ex-NBA Champ in ‘Sneaky’ Move