Danny Green’s reunion with Cavs was a couple years in the making

PHILADELPHIA — Danny Green lined up behind new teammates Raul Neto and Isaac Okoro for some extra 3-point practice following Wednesday’s shootaround at Wells Fargo Center. Green took a pass from one of the team’s assistant coaches and launched a triple that splashed through the net before moving to the back of the line.

“You get two,” Neto and Okoro said almost simultaneously, letting the newbie know each guy gets two consecutive attempts, not just one, from that spot before moving to the next.

Forgive Green. He doesn’t know. He’s the new guy. Still finding his way.

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Even though the Cavs and Green agreed to terms on a rest-of-season contract over the weekend following a buyout with the Houston Rockets — and he was inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for Monday’s Cleveland-San Antonio game — Green didn’t officially sign until the hours leading up to his first official shootaround with the Cavs.

His first impression was a good one.

“The atmosphere, the culture seems to be really great,” Green said when asked why he chose Cleveland. “They’re doing some good things. They had an opportunity to make it happen and they were the most interested, which made it seem like it was a good fit and good spot. A team that really wanted me, needed me. Good opportunity to probably get some minutes on the floor with a team that’s going to be in the playoffs. That was a big emphasis for me. They are one of the teams that fit that category. They haven’t let me down yet. It’s still early, but it’s a great fit so far and culture is great.”

Drafted by Cleveland in the second round in 2009, Green spent one season with the Cavs, known best for his sideline dance routines, before getting waived and joining the Spurs at the beginning of 2010-11.

In many ways, this reunion was a couple years in the making.

The Cavs and Green had free agency discussions in 2021, before he re-upped with the 76ers on a two-year, $20 million contract. At that time, Cleveland was in a much different place, coming off a 22-win season and still trying to pull itself from the rubble in the aftermath of LeBron James’ departure.

“That was before we knew how good they could be,” Green said, reflecting on what could’ve been and what almost was. “They have grown since then. I wouldn’t say we kept in touch, but I’ve always been watching them and what they’ve been doing.”

Green clearly liked what he saw.

The Cavs are 38-22 — the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. They are riding a seven-game winning streak into Wednesday’s showdown with Philadelphia, which is clinging to a one-game lead for the third spot.

Following Green’s weekend buyout, the playoff-tested veteran received interest from Boston, Phoenix and Los Angeles — a place where he won his third NBA title in 2020. Ultimately, he chose to join the Cavs on a one-year, $2 million deal — even though sources say he received no assurances about playing time in any of his conversations with president of basketball operations Koby Altman or coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

The Cavs believe he can help in their postseason quest. Green does too.

“Being that leader,” Green said of his role. “Getting them to understand and mature as fast as possible in a short amount of time what it takes to win games, especially in the playoffs. A lot of them don’t have playoff experience. So, come in, play some defense, knock some shots down and teach.”

Green has been a proven playoff contributor throughout his career, appearing in 165 postseason games with San Antonio, Toronto, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. He has won three NBA titles and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said the young Cavs, even just through osmosis, will benefit from having Green around.

Cleveland’s roster has 215 combined playoff appearances sprinkled throughout — and 45 of those are from little-used, end-of-bench pieces Mamadi Diakite and Robin Lopez.

During his playoff career, Green has averaged 8.1 points on 38.9% from 3-point range. He made seven triples, tied for the third-most in Finals history, during Game 3 versus the Heat in 2013. He hit that same mark as a member of the 76ers during Game 3 of last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals — a week before tearing his ACL and LCL in the same knee.

After that untimely injury, the 35-year-old Green spent about 10 months rehabbing. He finally made his season debut with Memphis on Feb. 1, scoring three points in 10 minutes that night. He played in three games as a member of the Grizzlies, totaling 44 minutes and trying to shake off the rust. Then he was sent to Houston as a salary-filling piece in a multi-team trade last week that brought Luke Kennard from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Because of Green’s age, that recent injury, Bickerstaff’s set rotation and the team’s pre-All-Star surge, there are questions about how much Green will contribute on the court and what, if anything, he has left. The Cavs — and Green — are both being realistic about those expectations. Green repeatedly used the term if when discussing his role.

“I’m not here to be given anything. I’m here to work for my minutes just like anybody else,” Green said. “I just don’t know. It’s up in the air. I just got here. It’s day one and I’m learning everything and it’s really up to the coaches in how they want to do things. They have a really good team. They’re a playoff team. They’ve been winning games, on a seven-game win streak. I’m not here to try to mess that up.

“If they’re low on bodies, need me or they see me fitting in right away, then cool. But I believe it takes all coaching staffs some time to trust and throw somebody in the fire right away. You never know. We will see.”

The list of players added in the buyout market who then have gone on to make a significant difference for their new team is incredibly short. Green’s on-court impact will likely be sporadic. But the Cavs didn’t sign him to be an end-of-bench cheerleader. They signed him to play, especially when the lights shine brightest. And, no matter what happens, it was a no-brainer addition for the 15th and final roster spot.

Green, who is expected to be available to make his debut Wednesday night, met the team in Philadelphia Tuesday and has been partaking in a terminological crash course since. He’s trying to get acclimated to this new system and learn about teammates. He has already singled out Okoro as a potential protégé, saying the 22-year-old starting small forward could be a “good 3-and-D guy in this league for a long time.” Green also spoke with Bickerstaff about his surgically repaired knee and the kind of workload he can physically handle after 10 months recovering and three brief showings in Memphis.

According to Green, he can log up to 30 minutes and play back-to-backs — if needed. Although 15-20 is probably better in the early going. He plans to communicate with Bickerstaff and the trainers about that daily, preventing any confusion.

The minute allocation will fall on Bickerstaff, who has settled on a clear eight- or nine-man rotation.

The five usual starters — Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Okoro, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Then the four mainstay reserves — Ricky Rubio, Caris LeVert, Cedi Osman and Dean Wade.

Future Hall of Famer Kevin Love can’t get minutes — even though Altman and Bickerstaff both believe Love will still be needed at some point. Lamar Stevens, who has started 18 games this season, has been relegated to mostly mop-up duty. Neto only plays when the Cavs need a defensive spark or there’s an injury. Even Wade, a permanent fixture, received just six minutes during Monday’s 117-109 win over the Spurs. Erratic swingman Osman played 11.

The Cavs are close to full strength. They are playing their best. Is there room for someone else?

“I think what we are going through now, and in that conversation would be, we’re trending in a really good direction and we have to figure the balance between continuing with the group that has started to head that way and how you mix in a piece that could possibly help you down the road,” Bickerstaff said the other night. “We will be very ginger with that because we do not want to disrupt the rhythm of what these guys are finding right now.”

At 6-foot-6, with experience playing the 2 and 3, any consistent court time for Green would probably come at the expense of LeVert, Osman or Okoro, with Green taking a few minutes from any — or all — of that trio. But that feels like more of a down-the-road occurrence, once Green gets used to his new digs.

As the elder statesman interacted with a small group of reporters following Wednesday’s workout, Garland — the resident team jokester — was on the floor hoisting shots while also eavesdropping on the conversation. Garland playfully hazed Green, laughed at some responses and called the two of them “D.G. squared.”

“First day in the building and D.G. is already messing with me,” Green said with a smile. “It’s going to be fun. I can already tell just by being around this group, they like to have fun with each other and mess with each other. This group is going to keep me young for sure.”

Welcome back to Cleveland.

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