Report: Spurs’ Danny Green likely to avoid free agency, opt-in to contract

Danny Green will likely avoid free agency and opt into his contract with the San Antonio Spurs, according to a report.

The San Antonio Spurs entered the 2018 offseason with three players set to make player-option decisions: Danny Green, Joffrey Lauvergne and Rudy Gay. Lauvergne will apparently opt out and seek a contract in Europe, while Gay chose to forgo the second year of his Spurs deal, as well.

That left Green as the last player to make a decision on his 2018-19 contract — either opt-in for $10 million or test free agency. It appears he will do the latter.

According to Jabari Young of the San Antonio Express-News, barring a guarantee of a larger payday, Green will likely pick up his option for the 2018-19 season. Young noted how Green said he would consider a long-term deal, so maybe that’s the end game, pending San Antonio shows interest.

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Green’s $10 million obviously restricts what the Spurs can do on the open market. However, it means they will have at least one less hole on their roster to fill, unless there’s a trade to send the veteran shooting guard elsewhere.

Will this decision alter Thursday’s draft plans? The Spurs were linked to multiple backcourt players, including Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Okogie. With aging players at point guard and shooting guard, though, a younger option brought into the fold would make sense, even with Derrick White‘s selection in 2017 and Dejounte Murray in 2016.

Green, who turns 31 Friday, joined the Spurs in the 2010-11 season as a free agent. By 2012-13, he became a full-time starter for teams that went to back-to-back NBA Finals.

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For the past three seasons Green has averaged shooting percentages below 40 percent and has not crossed 10 points per game since 2014-15. Despite that, he is one year removed from receiving an NBA All-Defensive Second Team accolade and owns a career 104 Defensive Rating.