When free agency started, we all had ideas about which players would make it back to Boston. Most of us thought Kevin Garnett would be back. Most of us thought Ray Allen would be gone. Brandon Bass? It could go either way. But the one guy we truly never worried about was Jeff Green.
After all, the Celtics paid for his surgery, and left the door open to him all season. Green was in and out of the locker room. He sat on the bench during games. He even listened in on huddles. All along, the C's said they wanted him back, and Green's side was always there to let you know the feelings were mutual.
"We intend to have Jeff back," Danny Ainge said on Monday. "Nothing is done, but we intend to have him back. I think we're going to enter a contract with him, hopefully by the end of the moratorium."
"Of course he wants to come back here," Green's agent David Falk recently said. "It's not done. I am optimistic it will get done, because this is where Jeff wants to be."
Since free agency kicked off last weekend, we've heard a lot of talk like that, but still . . . no deal. And now, the guy who most of us believed would be the quickest to settle on his future with the Celtics is one of the few remaining questions marks.
I guess.
I mean, the assumption is still that Green and the C's will make it happengiven the last six months it would be crazy to think any differently. But that being said, there's no doubt this whole process has been a little trickier than anyone imagined. Maybe even Green himself.
Love what I have went thru within the past 6 months...everything has made me a lot smarter, stronger and patient jeff (@unclejeffgreen) July 3, 2012Honestly, I don't know what this is supposed to mean. Sure, maybe he was talking about his contract. But he just as easily could have been in line at the DMV, or stuck in traffic or struggling with a bottle of ketchup. He could have been talking about anything. But either way it's pretty fitting, and I assume that new found patience is coming into use as he and the Celtics continue to iron out the details of a contract that most of us figured was already done.
Boston Celtics
Rondo. Bradley. Terry. Pierce. Green. Bass. Garnett.
That's a solid front seven. Throw in Wilcox andor The Stiemer, plus Jared Sullinger and JaJuan Johnson version 2.0, and that's a damn solid team. But for now, we wait.
Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrich_levine