Spurs retain Danny Green with three-year, $12 million contract (Update)

UPDATE July 11 5:05 p.m:

The Spurs have officially signed Danny Green though the actual parameters of the deal are not known. Green averaged 9.1 points, 3.5 rebounds while shooting 43.6% from behind the arc in 66 games (38 starts) this season.

Here’s Gregg Popovich via the Spurs’ official press release:

“We are thrilled to have Danny returning to San Antonio. It was a pleasure watching Danny grow and     develop this past season. We think he will only continue to mature and get better, and we’re happy that this     will be happening with the San Antonio Spurs.”

UPDATE July 9 7:35 p.m:

The Spurs have signed Danny Green, a restricted free agent, to a three-year, $12 million contract according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The contract will be totally guaranteed.

San Antonio was noticeably better defensively with Green on the floor, allowing a mere 98.5 points per 100 possessions. That kind of production nearly bested the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls’ defense.

Green excelled as a natural spot-up threat in the confines of San Antonio’s space-intensive offense, scoring 1.06 points per possession off 39.4% shooting from behind the arc (on spot-ups). Place Green in the corners and he gets even more deadly: he converted on 46% of his corner 3-pointers last season.

The only blemish on Green’s resume — his rebounding was also solid — is his small track record. This was his most productive season to date. Though that was due to a lack of opportunity and not an inherent flaw; Green logged 207 minutes total in his first two seasons.

Ultimately, $4 million per year is a more than fair price for a player that we know fits the system well. If he improves his defense against screens, he struggled at times to stay connected to his man, then that will only raise the efficacy of this contract.

The Spurs wanted Green back and he wanted to stay. It was just meant to be.