Los Angeles Lakers forward Danny Green was an instrumental part of his team’s run to a championship this year. Although his streaky shooting left something to be desired for large stretches of the season, his timely defense and smart play was essential throughout the playoffs.
Despite his contributions, Green is a frequent topic of trade speculation. This week, he spoke out about his future with the Lakers on his Inside the Green Room podcast.
“It’s been almost 10 years now me hearing about trade rumors,” Green said.
“You ignore the noise. If it happens, it happens. (Rob Pelinka) is a respectful guy. I’m sure he’ll give me a call. I understand the nature of the business. Everybody is going to get better. Everybody’s looking to make moves and get better, so we need to do that as well.
“Hopefully, part of that process is still keeping me here. I think we bring everybody back and we do what we did this year and hopefully not in a bubble. I think the group that we have is special.”
The Lakers also have a ton of free agents to attempt to bring back, including Dwight Howard (who has been linked to the Golden State Warriors), Rajon Rondo (who is a Los Angeles Clippers target) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (who the Atlanta Hawks are said to be interested in).
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— Game 7 (@game7__) November 2, 2020
“It’s going to be hard to bring back all 10 free agents,” Green said.
“But if we bring back the majority with the nucleus that we have now, I still believe we have the potential to do something great.”
Last year Green signed a two-year, $30 million deal with the Lakers. He is due to make $15.4 million in 2020-21. At the time, given the team’s cap situation and what was available, it was regarded as a fairly solid pick-up.
Green averaged 8.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 threes per outing in 2019-20, but he lacked the sort of consistency that many fans had hoped to see.
That said, Green’s track record speaks for itself. He has now won championships in back-to-back campaigns, one with the Toronto Raptors and another with LA, and has three total titles when you add in the one he got with the San Antonio Spurs.
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— Game 7 (@game7__) November 3, 2020
Although the 33-year-old wasn’t precisely what fans had hoped for, he was still very solid this past season. And all things considered, it’s hard to see him being traded away. The Lakers don’t have a ton of tradeable assets to package him with, and he won’t be the centerpiece of any substantive deal.
Barring something crazy happening, Green will remain a member of the Lakers for at least one more season. And based on what happened this past year, it’s safe to say that’s probably not the worst thing in the world.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
