Veteran sharpshooter returns to 76ers
Philadelphia traded Danny Green after he tore his ACL. Looks like there were no hard feelings.
One year after the Sixers sent the injured Green and a first-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for guard De'Anthony Melton, the three-time NBA champion is returning to Philadelphia on a one-year deal.
Green joined the Sixers before the 2020-21 season after he'd won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020 and the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He started 69 games for Philadelphia in 2020-21, shooting 40.5 percent from the field in his first season. Tyrese Maxey supplanted Green in the starting lineup the next year, but Green was still a valuable three-and-D wing off the bench.
But in Philly's final playoff game in 2022, Green tore his ACL and LCL after Joel Embiid fell into him, while perhaps exaggerating some minor contact on a drive. Literally adding insult to injury, James Harden then nearly stepped on Green while whiffing on a floater.
But the 36-year-old Green isn't mad at Philly for trading him or Embiid for oafishly landing on him, and now he's back. While he's likely there mainly to provide veteran leadership, and perhaps help Harden hate the Sixers slightly less, Philadelphia does have a need for wing players and three-point shooting.
Green can do that. And if Philly is really serious about winning a title, it might help to have a guy who has done it before. Three different times.
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