Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Danny Green discussed his free agency process this summer as he waited to see where Kawhi Leonard landed.
The Los Angeles Lakers had grand plans heading into 2019 free agency. After trading for Anthony Davis, they had grand dreams of signing a max-free agent to give the organization the newest Big 3 in the league.
While those dreams did not come to fruition, Rob Pelinka and company bounced back quickly after missing out on Kawhi Leonard. They wasted no time in spending the $32 million in cap space they had.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo were brought back. Quinn Cook, Troy Daniels, Jared Dudley and DeMarcus Cousins were also added to the squad. But the player who received the biggest contract from the Lakers this summer was Danny Green.
Green helped the Toronto Raptors take down the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals and was looking to strike it big in free agency. At 32-years old, this could be the last time that Green would land a lucrative deal in free agency, and that is what he did.
Green landed a two-year, $30 million deal. While that may be a slight overpay for Green, he is a great fit for what the Lakers need. He is a great 3-point shooter and excellent wing defender. Green hits the mold as the prototypical player to play alongside LeBron James. However, how he ended up on the Lakers was quite a process.
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For a majority of the days leading up to free agency, it was believed that Green and Leonard may be a package deal. Had Leonard returned to Toronto, it was likely that Green would as well. The two were also believed to be joining Los Angeles together, but Leonard ended up with the Clippers and Green with the Lakers.
Green and Leonard have played the previous eight seasons together, so he knows Leonard as much as anyone. During his introductory press conference, Green shared his experience of how free agency felt this year.
"“Those five days seemed like five months,” Green said during his introductory conference call. “And each day that went by, I checked in with ‘Whi and I’m like, ‘Yo, what’s going on with your meeting?’ ‘I have a meeting tomorrow.’ So I have to wait another day?’ You think a day, it goes by pretty fast but the way it was happening, the way I was talking to him, you would think it was a week. Like, ‘I got to wait another day, dude? Like, come on!’”"
As a role player, Green usually has to wait a little longer to land a contract. However, it could not have been easy to see other role players without his experience or production level, signing lucrative deals as he waited to see what Leonard decided to do.
In the end, everything worked out. Green got paid and landed with a contender in the Lakers. It will be a fun rivalry to watch Green and Leonard face off as the Lakers and Clippers battle for supremacy not only in the Western Conference and NBA but in Los Angeles as well.