The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly reached an agreement with veteran forward Jeff Green on a one year deal.

The deal is worth $2.3 million dollars which is the veteran’s minimum. In terms of luxury tax, the Cavaliers are a repeat offender so this will in reality cost them around $8 million. 

Green, a nine year veteran in the NBA played with the Orlando Magic last season where he averaged 9.2 points and 3.1 rebounds in 69 games (11 starts).

Green was drafted 5th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2007 NBA Draft but was immediately traded to the then Seattle Supersonics in the Ray Allen trade. He spent four seasons with Seattle/Oklahoma City alongside Kevin Durant and was a first team All-Rookie with Durant in the 2007-2008 season.

He’s also spent time with Boston, Memphis, and the Los Angeles Clippers. His career averages are 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds while shooting 43.5% from the field and 33.3% from three point distance.

Durability is a plus for Green as he averages 78 games a season. He missed the 2011-2012 season with a heart condition but that was fixed via surgery.

He can play both the power forward and small forward positions which brings a versatility that the Cavaliers will love in small ball lineups. It may however spell the end of the Derrick Williams experiment in Cleveland.

Williams is a versatile forward like Green and while the Cavaliers could still bring him back as the 2017-2018 roster is not finalized and more moves could be coming, I would think Williams may not be back.

For the veteran’s minimum, this is a low risk-high reward move for the Cavaliers.

Green has shown he can score and that’s a huge need off the bench for this team.

Defensively, he held players he defended to 45% shooting according to NBA.com. However, when you break it down more in-depth, it’s a cause for concern. Defending two pointers, he gave up over 52% shooting and when it was less than 10 feet to the basket, he gave up 61% shooting.

It’s obvious Cleveland wanted him though and Lebron James wanted him because according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, Lebron and Green both were communicating to each other before Green made his decision.