4 things Cavaliers must immediately do the minute free agency begins

Move No. 3: Re-sign Danny Green

The Cleveland Cavaliers did something last season they haven’t done in a long time: they signed a win-now veteran on the buyout market to load up for a playoff run. Just because that run ended in five games doesn’t mean the relationship can’t continue.

Danny Green has a long pedigree of winning, being a starter on three different championship teams for three different franchises. His combination of elite shooting and wing defense made him the perfect role player. While he is now 36 years old and not the same player he used to be, what he is now could still be extremely useful to the Cavaliers.

For his career, Green is a 40 percent 3-point shooter, and even in very limited minutes down the stretch for Cleveland last season he hit 44.8 percent of his threes. The Cavs’ biggest need this summer is shooting, and Green would provide it.

The larger question for Green is how much of his movement and athleticism he gained back since the end of the season. The one-year anniversary of his ACL tear didn’t come until after the Cavs’ season ended; there are very good reasons to think he will be much better physically at the start of next season with the time off and distance from his injury.

Green is an excellent on-court fit for what Cleveland needs and an excellent locker room presence as a guy who has reached the mountaintop and knows how to get there. The Cavs can offer Green up to $2.4 million using his Non-Bird Rights, or more if they dip into the Bi-Annual Exception or larger Mid-Level Exception.

If Green is open to a reunion, the Cavaliers shouldn’t waste any time. The upside is that he is able to be a reliable rotation player who closes games for them in the playoffs. That upside is worth keeping around.