For the Cavs, bringing back Danny Green should be a no-brainer

We didn’t see Danny Green have much time with the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, when he was brought in via the buyout market post-trade deadline. Green played in eight games with the Cavaliers after the deadline, most of which came in garbage time.

Now, nobody was expecting Green at the peak of his powers, and he had only played in three games with the Memphis Grizzlies this season before he was dealt to the Houston Rockets. Green had been working his way back from a torn ACL he suffered in the 2022 Playoffs with the Philadelphia 76ers, who traded him to Memphis last offseason.

It did still seem as if Green could be a meaningful rotational contributor for the Cavaliers in the postseason, though. He had proven himself as a playoff performer over the years, and at minimum, Green could aid Cleveland as a meaningful floor spacer for stretches. He is a career 40.0 percent shooter from three-point range, and it seemed feasible Green could play well off of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell.

Green couldn’t establish much of a rhythm going into the postseason, unfortunately, and his opportunities were limited, as ball movement was fairly inconsistent in Cleveland’s first round loss to the New York Knicks in five games. He had three total points on five shots in the series, with the majority of his minutes coming in Game 2 and Game 3, with 32 of his 40 minutes in four appearances then coming in those.

That said, despite the limited run for him with them in the 2022-23 campaign, Green is a player Cleveland should be interested in re-signing this offseason. With his off-ball presence and veteran impact in mind, it seems to be an obvious call.

For the Cavs, bringing Green back should be a no-brainer.

Even with Green not being what he once was with the San Antonio Spurs or perhaps with the Los Angeles Lakers previously, for example, he’s still a low maintenance contributor, and provided he has opportunities, could give Cleveland solid minutes.

One shouldn’t expect Green to regularly start from this point on in his career, and he again was somewhat limited last season in terms of availability with him recovering from his aforementioned injury in last year’s playoffs. But conversely, the script should be flipped next season in that regard next season, and after a full offseason, he should come into the 2023-24 campaign ready to go.

For a Cavaliers squad that needs more perimeter shooting help in the rotation, a healthy Green should be a player they should have tons of interest in bringing back.

He still has a knockdown shooting reputation, a boatload of postseason experience and in those postseason games, he’s shot 38.8 percent from downtown. Defensively, while he’s not what he was before, he’s still a player who can be competent there and he’s going to be a reliable rotator.

Additionally, whether or not the Cavaliers reunite with Kevin Love this offseason, Green would be another good veteran voice to have in the locker room for a Wine and Gold team that still would benefit from that. Furthermore, Green is a three-time NBA champ, and with him heading into next season seemingly ready at the outset, his presence on and off the floor should be a player Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and others could go to for his counsel.

This isn’t to say Cleveland shouldn’t be looking to sign another possible wing, whether or not Caris LeVert is back, or look to bring in rumored possible trade targets such as Royce O’Neale or Bojan Bogdanovic. However, for solid depth and with him still a high-level shooter, bringing Green back feasibly via the veteran’s minimum, at this stage, should be a no-brainer move for Cleveland.

He’ll turn 36 in June, but for playable depth, provided he gets the looks, he could still be a quality contributor, and the hope would be in next year’s playoffs, he could give the Cavs a boost.