The Works: Being Jeff Green; LeBron Adds Insult to Injury; D.C. Dischord

Filed under: Heat, Rockets, Warriors, Wizards, NBA Rumors, Thunder, The Works

Today in The Works: Everybody older than LeBron James; preview time for the Warriors and Wizards; and a special tribute to Michael Beasley and DC hardcore.

But first, why Jeff Green and Aaron Brooks aren't getting offered extensions.

Keep Passing Me By

You can keep your sky-high Kevin Durant, your cyborg point guard Russell Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka, aka Amar'e with a conscience. If anyone is to take credit for the Oklahoma City Thunder's peculiar positional formations -- outside of Sam Presti and Scotty Brooks, who set it all into motion -- it's Jeff Green.

The Thunder only started to click when, against much prevailing logic, Green was scooted over to the PF slot full-time. Green, however, proved up to the challenge. This allowed KD to settle into his natural, all-purpose three (instead of ping-ponging between the perimeter and the rough-and-tumble paint); by the time last season's playoff appearance rolled around, the two was a flex-position, inhabited by either Thabo Sefolosha's lockdown guts or James Harden's emerging offensive punch.

Does that make Green a rock, the foundation, the Jenga piece that holds the Thunder aloft? Or is he a historical accident? The Thunder's unwillingness to offer him an extension suggests the latter. With Jeff Green, then, we would be looking at a fairly unprecedented situation: a young player, expected to help anchor a team for years to come, who ends up both more valuable and more expendable than expected. Jeff Green was the ideal, if unlikely, placeholder, whose combination of skill, zeal, and willingness to try new things set the tone for the Thunder.

Except Ibaka, and Green's own limitations -- I gave up defending him during the Lakers series -- now conspire to bring him down. Young teams trying to get it together and find an identity sometimes need a unsung, improbable hero like Green to facilitate everyone else landing in the right place. That doesn't mean, though, that this player -- more fulcrum than keystone -- gets to come along for the ride. There's no reason for Green's stabilizing influence. He filled in the blanks, but those blanks aren't there anymore.

 

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Sanaa Lathan Sara Foster Sara Spraker