Memphis Grizzlies may have tipped their hand about what they plan to do with Danny Green

Ever since the Memphis Grizzlies acquired Danny Green in a draft-night trade with Philadelphia, fans and experts have speculated what the team will do with the 35-year old sharpshooter.

Green, who is a career 40% three-point shooter, is currently recovering from a torn ACL and LCL—injuries sustained during the 2022 NBA Playoffs when he was a member of the 76ers.

Most assumed the Grizzlies would work in coming to terms on a buyout or use him and his one year, $10 million contract in a trade for salary filler.

However, he hasn’t been bought out or traded. In fact, Green and the Grizzlies reportedly came to terms in pushing back the guarantee date on his contract from July 1, 2022 to January 10, 2023.

To compound things, Green was unexpectedly sitting with the Memphis Grizzlies on the front row of the July 10 Summer League game vs the Minnesota Timberwolves in Las Vegas.

What to make of Danny Green sitting with Memphis Grizzlies executives and players at Summer League

Danny Green was unexpectedly sandwiched on the front row between Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman, VP of Basketball Affairs Tayshaun Prince, Head Coach Taylor Jenkins, Tyus Jones, and Ja Morant.

The fact that Green showed up to Vegas, sat with his new teammates, and had a major contract date pushed back gives us some insight as to what the Grizzlies could be thinking.

For starters, Green is a three-time NBA champion (San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Las Angeles Lakers). This man has played with some of the game’s greatest players and knows what it takes to climb the mountain and win a chip.

There’s a lot of value in that. Kind of like what the Grizzlies were maybe hoping to get when they acquired Andre Iguodala in the summer of 2019. Except, Iguodala flat-out refused to report to Memphis and was never able to soak up any of his championship knowledge.

This time, the Grizzlies have a multi-time NBA champion that is already embracing his new team and seems eager to become acquainted with the young and hungry Grizzlies.

And perhaps an underrated reason the Grizzlies may want to keep Green in the fold and on the team is that he could be a big-time contributor on the court, especially come playoff time.

How is he going to do that while recovering from two torn ligaments? Well, funny you should ask. Green said that he expects to play at some point during the 2022-23 season.

Back in May, Green said in an episode of his Green Room podcast that he’s targeting a return to the court before the 2023 NBA All-Star break.

Here’s what Green said on the podcast, per Hoops Hype:

"“I’d like to end on my own terms and not a major injury. … I will be back before All-Star break. You better believe it. You heard it here first. So I will work my tail off to rehab to get back healthy.“"

Green is confident he can make complete a comeback and help a team in a playoff run.

"“My body and my bones usually heal pretty well. I don’t have any bad habits. So, yeah, I think I’ll be back in time to help the team in the playoff run and show and prove that I’m able to still play at that level to help a team get a win in the playoffs.”"

It looks like the Grizzlies are going to roll the dice with Green and see what happens. Sometimes rolling the dice has worked out for Memphis (netting Desmond Bane with the No. 30 overall pick) and sometimes it hasn’t (trading for Justice Winslow).

It just doesn’t seem to be commonplace for a player to travel from his hometown to Las Vegas to hang out and watch Summer League with a team that he may or may not be a part of in a couple of months.

So, this gesture by Green, signals to me that the Grizzlies are going to give Green some time and space to rehab and see what he can do on the court sometime later this winter.

If Green isn’t the same player and contributor we’ve seen in seasons past, his wisdom and mentorship will have been well worth the roster spot that he’ll have to occupy going into next season.

Expect the Grizzlies to have Green on the opening night roster and stay there until January 10 unless a no-brained trade offer comes in which he must be included.

The best-case scenario from the team’s perspective is that Green is able to play meaningful minutes during the playoff push.

The worst-case scenario is he remains on the roster until early January, gives invaluable advice to the young Grizzlies, and is then waived.

So, from that perspective, it makes all the sense in the world to keep Danny Green on the Memphis Grizzlies until he demonstrates otherwise.