NBA

Danny Green to sign with Cavaliers after agreeing to buyout with Rockets, per report

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1y ago

Feb 13, 2023 / 4127 Views

Danny Green is nearing an agreement to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers after agreeing to a buyout with the Houston Rockets, his agent confirmed to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Green was traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Rockets ahead of the trade deadline on Feb. 9 and came to an agreement to a contract buyout with the Rockets Sunday afternoon.

Green now joins a Cavaliers team that sits fourth in the Eastern Conference and has the potential to make some noise in the postseason. It's unclear how much of a role Green will play on the Cavaliers, given he just returned from a torn ACL on Feb. 1. He played in three Games for the Grizzlies before getting traded, where he averaged 14.5 minutes off the bench. In those three Games, he shot 37.5 percent from 3-point range, showing he can still be a quality 3-and-D specialist.

There will likely still be some rust for Green to knock off as he gets acclimated with the Cavaliers. But if he manages to show glimpses of the player that shot 38 percent from deep while playing over 20 minutes a Game last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, then he will be a positive addition off the bench for a quality Cleveland team.

The Cavaliers were one of just two teams at the trade deadline not to make any deals, with Cleveland president Koby Altman saying "We just didn't feel like anything was going to really move the needle for us." Altman said that the team did its due diligence in canvassing the league to look for potential improvements, but there weren't any moves he saw that would improve the roster.

"Scoured the market and talked to every team I could," Altman said. "We could have made a move that was lateral, multiple moves that were lateral, that I didn't think appreciably made us better. I really wanted to see what this group looked like together, fully Healthy. A few of my guys over there, they said, 'Koby, I'm proud of you. You could make deals. There's things you can land the plane on. Don't just do something to do something. Let's be very, very intentional with what we're doing. If the move wasn't there to do it, don't do it.' So, I guess we sat this one out."

Instead of giving up an asset to try and make a move ahead of the deadline, the Cavaliers now add a three-time NBA champion in Green who has the potential of knocking down shots on the perimeter and playing stout defense on the other end when fully healthy.