When veteran shooting guard Danny Green signed with the Cavaliers, there was some energy in the air.
The Cavs needed outside shooting, some veteran savvy, and perhaps additional perimeter defense. So Green’s signed on Valentine’s Day and it was a move met with love all the way around.
Then Green suited up … and barely played. In fact, he appeared in just 11 games with the Cavs the rest of the way, averaging 5,5 points on 45 percent shooting. It was even less in the playoffs, as Green appeared in four of five postseason games, averaging less than a point.
From the sounds of things, he wonders why Cleveland bothered to sign him in the first place.
Green, 36, actually began his career with the Cavs, as a second-round pick back in 2010.
“It was a great full circle moment, it meant a lot,” Green told Emily Austin of The Hoop Chat.
Beyond that, though, the signing fizzled.
“It was just tough being in that position, that situation. There was a lot of weird air of not knowing what was going on, what was happening, what my role was going to be, or what it was,’ Green said. “There was talks differently before I got there than when I got there. Ultimately in the time I thought I was going to get my opportunity to actually play throughout the regular season, I caught COVID.”
Green actually missed most of the first part of the season with the Grizzlies after suffering a knee injury. He was traded to the Rockets at the deadline, then promptly waived. The Cavs signed him at the same time they bought out the contract of veteran forward Kevin Love.
Like Love last season, Green never really became a part of coach J.B. Bickerstaff‘s regular rotation.
“Decisions that were not made by me is why I was not able to play or show that I was healthy,” Green said.
“I played at the end of the season, and the playoffs came, and he (Bickerstaff) wanted to stick with his guys. So he stuck with his guys, but that left me in this weird space of people not knowing if I was healthy or not.”
For now, Green is an unrestricted free agent. He almost definitely will not be returning to the Cavs. But he appears to feel as if he still has something left to offer someone somewhere.
“When you’re the old guy coming off injury, the phone doesn’t ring as much,” he said. “So I have to get back and prove that I’m healthy. Just waiting to see where the trades land.”
“Maybe some people think I’m done playing. I’m not done.”
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