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The Boston Celtics recently gave their roster quite the makeover, shipping off starter Tristan Thompson and intriguing big man Moses Brown in two separate trades, yielding a return of three new faces and a draft pick in total. Now, with NBA free agency tipping off on August 2nd at 6 p.m. ET, the organization appears focused on bringing some familiarity back into the picture.
Per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, the Celtics “will have interest” in veteran forward Jeff Green when free agency opens.
“According to a league source, the Celtics prefer to pursue a player with extensive experience and are focused on adding size and shooting, and forward Jeff Green is believed to be a primary target,” wrote Himmelsbach.
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Green-Celtics Connection Runs Deep
Green, 34, played for the Celtics from 2011-2015, including a season and a half under Brad Stevens — who now serves as the team’s president of basketball operations. In 2013, Green led Boston in scoring, averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game.
This past year, the Georgetown product served as a key veteran piece in the Brooklyn Nets’ star-studded lineup. In 68 games (38 starts), Green averaged 11.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. Green’s lone season in Brooklyn just so happened to coincide with coach Ime Udoka’s, who served as an assistant on Steve Nash’s staff before being named the Celtics’ head coach back in June.
To add even more fuel to the fire, Himmelsbach highlighted that Green is represented by Jason Glushon of Glushon Sports Management, who just so happens to also serve as the agent for both Jaylen Brown and Al Horford.
Green’s history with the Celtics organization is quite an interesting one. He was actually selected No. 5 overall by the team back in 2007 but was subsequently traded to the Seattle SuperSonics (now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder) on draft night in the trade that brought Ray Allen to the Celtics. Green finally made his way to Beantown in 2011 via a trade that shipped Nate Robinson and Celtics champion Kendrick Perkins to OKC.
Over Green’s three-and-a-half-year run with the Celtics, he averaged 14.6 points and 4.2 rebounds. The former still ranks as his highest output over any of the 10 stops across his 13-year career. Prior to being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team deal midway through the 2014-15 season, Green was averaging a career-best 17.6 points with the Celtics.
Stevens Looking for Savviness in Free Agency
While Stevens has been wheeling and dealing over the first few months on the job as team president, free agency remains his best opportunity to add depth around the likes of All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Money may be a bit tight, but that shouldn’t be too much of a concern, as adding another star into the fold isn’t necessarily priority No. 1 for the Celtics.
“With regards to what we want to add to our team, it’s pretty consistent,” Stevens said following the draft, via Mass Live. “We need to be mindful of our near and long-term views, and at the same time add hopefully an edge and some experience to our team. When I say experience, I mean just the savvy of someone who has been through it before that will help everybody around our guys better,” he noted. “That’s an important thing for our team as we move forward. The fit is important, what people bring to the table from those attributes is important. That’s what we’re looking at.”
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