Report: Jeff Green exercises $4.5 million option to stay with Nuggets

Veteran forward Jeff Green is staying with the Denver Nuggets for the 2022-23 season by exercising the $4.5 million player option in his contract, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps.

Green, 35, will enter his 15th NBA season next year and will stay put in the offseason for the first time since he played the 2014-15 season with the Memphis Grizzlies and returned for the 2015-16 season. He was traded that year to the Los Angeles Clippers and later played for the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets in the next five seasons before finally finding a home in Denver.

During his first season with the Nuggets, Green started 63 regular season games and averaged 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds. In the playoffs, he scored 3.8 points per game with 3.6 rebounds.

The Nuggets are led by back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, but were without point guard Jamal Murray for the entire 2021-22 season and forward Michael Porter Jr. for all but nine games. With forward Aaron Gordon also in the front court, Green will be expected to come off the bench for Denver next season.

Last week, the Nuggets traded forward JaMychal Green to the Oklahoma City Thunder, making the retention of Jeff Green an important part of the offseason.