Report: Danny Green's contract with Spurs for $40M, not $45M
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The San Antonio Spurs convinced several players to take a discount to fortify a formidable core with LaMarcus Aldridge. They've already begun doing so for future summers, too.
While Danny Green didn't take as noticeable a discount as Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, or David West to re-sign this summer, the four-year, $45-million contract he reportedly signed proved to be below-market. That signing was made official Tuesday, and with the team's announcement came news that Green took an even bigger markdown than initially believed.
Green's contract is actually for four years and $40 million, according to a report from Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. It also includes a player option for the fourth season and doesn't include raises, meaning Green will earn $10 million in each season of the deal.
A $5-million windfall for the Spurs may not seem like a lot over four years, especially with the salary cap rising, but they showed this summer that every dollar of financial flexibility can be crucial in the pursuit of free agents. Should Duncan and Ginobili retire after 2015-16, the Aldridge-Green-Kawhi Leonard-Tony Parker core would make a combined $61 million, meaning the Spurs could once again wiggle into appreciable cap space.
And make no mistake, Green is very much a part of the core of the next era of the Spurs' dynasty after this contract.
The 28-year-old Green is an elite perimeter defender who's impossibly accurate from deep. He hit 42.3 percent of his threes over the past four seasons and understands the Spurs' system inside out. Green took on a slightly larger role in 2014-15, averaging a career-high 11.7 points.
Green stands to enter the season as the team's starting shooting guard. He should see an even larger number of open corner looks with Aldridge and Duncan threatening on the blocks or at the elbows. This past season, Green averaged 4.6 3-point attempts per game that were classified as open or wide open by NBA.com, and he canned 43.5 percent of those attempts.