TNT's David Aldridge reported earlier today that the Washington Wizards signed veteran forward Jeff Green to a one-year, minimum salary contract. Per the collective bargaining agreement, Green will make a little less than $2.4 million. However, his salary will only count against Washington's salary cap for $1.5 million.
The move represents a homecoming of sorts for Green. The 31-year-old was born in neighboring D.C. suburb Cheverly, MD and attended high school in Hyattsville. He later played college hoops at Georgetown University from 2004-07. While there, he won the Big East Player of the Year award in his junior season.
Moving on again
This will be Green's seventh team in 11 seasons. He was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder (then known as the Seattle SuperSonics) fifth overall in the 2007 NBA Draft and, aside from some flashes, hasn't lived up to his top five selection. Some of that was out of his control; he had to sit out for the 2011-12 season due to being diagnosed with an Aortic aneurysm. He returned the next season and put up his usual solid numbers for the Boston Celtics, averaging 12.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Most recently, Green played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He put up decent numbers for the defending Eastern Conference champions, averaging 10.8 points in 23.4 minutes per game.
What does this mean for the Wizards?
Green is the type of player that will drop 40 points on one night and follow it up with a puzzling 10 points the next game. He's as streaky as they come and at his age, that likely won't change. However, he can come off the bench and effectively fill the void that Mike Scott left when he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. He will give the Wizards some scoring punch off the bench, which they need since the team ranked 16th in bench scoring last year. He, along with Tomas Satoransky and Austin Rivers, can play alongside John Wall and Bradley Beal while handling some of the scoring load when those two need to sit.