By Jordan Long
NBA free agency began yesterday at 4 PM Mountain Time. This is when free agents can agree to contracts but these can’t be signed until August 6th at 4 PM Mountain Time. The Denver Nuggets were busy keeping their own unrestricted free agents, agreeing to deals with small forward Will Barton, power forward JaMychal Green, and point guard Austin Rivers. Denver lost reserve center JaVale McGee to Phoenix. Denver made one move to add a player to the team, power forward Jeff Green. Green agreed to a 2-year, $10 million contract.
Green has played in the NBA since he was drafted by the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise in 2007. He has bounced around the league, playing for 10 different teams, Seattle/Oklahoma City, Boston, Memphis, Cleveland, Washington, Orlando, Brooklyn, Utah, L.A. Clippers, and Houston. Denver becomes his 11th team.
Last season, Green played for the Brooklyn Nets. Green ended up appearing in 68 games and started 38 of them. He was a reliable center. Last year in the regular season Green averaged 11 points, 3.9 assists, and 1.6 assists per game. Brooklyn ended up making the playoffs, but were knocked off in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks in 7 games. In the postseason Green played in 6 playoff games averaging 8.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game.
The Nuggets are trying to improve the team. They were swept by the Phoenix Suns in the second round. They have talent to build around in Nikola Jokic, Michael Porter Jr. and when healthy, Jamal Murray. Denver feels they are in a championship window with that core. They were hurt by the Suns physical play and ability to nail the outside shot. They had no answer when the Suns moved inside and those were easy looks or dunks at the basket.
Green is an upgrade since they are most likely going to let Paul Millsap leave in free agency. He will take the place of Millsap as the backup power forward or he can play center when Nikola Jokic needs a rest. He is undersized for the center position at 6 foot 8 inches, but he is still athletic enough to block shots, rebound the ball, and force the opponent to have tough looks at the basket. On offense Green though has the athleticism to shoot the ball anywhere on the court. He is a career 44.4% shooter but has nailed 3 pointers at 34%.
The Nuggets now have a player who can be a power forward or a center which should help them. This was a decent move, but Denver still is undersized. The only center on the roster who is bigger than Jokic is Bol Bol who is 7 foot 2 inches. He barely played for Denver last season but maybe now this is his time with McGee gone. If not, Denver should look at adding free agent Robin Lopez who is a 7-foot-tall center. He could add a physical presence down low. Even so, Denver is still a team to look out for in the West. Hopefully Green can help them with the ultimate goal, an NBA Championship in the next two years.
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