Report: Celtics near 4-year, $40 million to sign Jeff Green

There was really not much question that once he recovered Jeff Green would return to the Celtics. Other teams were interested but all things being equal he wanted to be back in Boston, a team that kept him around after he was diagnosed with a heart problem that necessitated surgery and cost him all of last season.

The question was money. Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated reports he’s going to get a lot of it. Too much if you ask me.

“I’m confident it’ll get done,” (Green’s agent David) Falk told SI.com of Green’s deal. “I guess (Boston) got (Brandon) Bass’ (contract) done, which is great. Jeff is trying to get a sense of what the team looks like first before he makes a commitment, but I expect he’ll be there and I expect it’ll be done by the 11th (when the free agency moratorium ends and deals can be formalized)….”

A source with knowledge of the talks said Green’s deal may be “in the neighborhood” of four years for $40 million, though the two sides are continuing talks.

That’s a lot of money for the young swingman and a gamble on Green’s game maturing. Green scored 15.1 points per game his last full season in in Oklahoma City but needed 13 shots to do it — he’s not very efficient. He’s a career 33.7 percent from three. He’s got all kinds of defensive potential but tends to not bring the effort on that end of the floor. He’s never had a PER above 14 (and the league average is 15). There are reasons the Thunder were willing to part with him. In his half a season with Boston he averaged 9.8 points per game but took 7.8 shots a game and hit 29 percent from three.

Green has the potential, the athleticism to live up to that contract, he is a good player who shows you flashes but needs his game to mature. If he does, this could be a good deal for the Celtics. But four years is a bit of a risk.