Denver Nuggets: 3 things Jeff Green brings to this team.

The Denver Nuggets were active to start free agency, bringing back Will Barton and JaMychal Green, but the signing of Jeff Green is most intriguing.

Jeff Green was one of the Brooklyn Nets’ standout performers through the regular season and during their playoff escapades last season. Unfortunately, the basketball gods weren’t kind to Green, as a foot injury caused him to miss the opening three games of Brooklyn’s 2nd round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Green posted a respectable stat-line of 11 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game with a 62.4 true shooting percentage throughout last season. Despite missing half of Brooklyn’s playoff games, Green continued to contribute as he posted 8.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 55.6 percent from three on 3 attempts per game.

Adding the 13-year veteran to the roster gives the Nuggets bench additional versatility on both ends of the floor, most notably as a legitimate small-ball option. In recent years, the Denver Nuggets have utilized traditional centers as a backup for Nikola Jokic, which has allowed them to keep specific structure and cohesiveness but can also limit their effectiveness when teams opt to go smaller.

We all saw that game where Grant Williams of the Boston Celtics changed the game’s flow against the Nuggets.

Hence, Jeff Green’s addition will ensure that if/when teams decided to try a smaller, more technically gifted line-up, Mike Malone has the ability to counter with one of the league’s better small-ball five options.

Yet, pigeonholing Green as nothing more than a situational role player is doing him a disservice; as such, here are three things the veteran will bring to the team.

3 things Jeff Green brings to this team: Three-level scoring / offensive versatility

Average role players are single-skill specialists. Good role players are two-skill specialists; think 3-and-D wings. But great role players? Well, they bring a multitude of skills to a team, either from the bench or as a supplementary starter behind a team’s stars.

Jeff Green, despite his age, is a great role player, especially on offense.

Throughout the 2020-21 NBA season, the league average for true shooting was 57.2 percent per StatMuse. Green ended the regular season with a true shooting percentage of 62.4 percent while taking 7.8 attempts per game, and as you can see from the above shot chart, his offensive game was incredibly diversified.

According to Instat’s tracking data, catch-and-shoot opportunities accounted for 29.5 percent of Green’s offensive workload, with him averaging 1.32 points per possession. After his catch-and-shoot attempts, Green’s next most prominent offensive output came in the form of transition (14.1 percent of total offensive load).

The 13-year veteran also spent time operating as both a roll man and pop man in pick-and-roll scenarios. A player capable of manipulating defenses in so many ways while providing reliable offense can only elevate the Nuggets bench in the coming season.

While JaVale McGee was a solid backup big, and his departure will still surely need addressing, Jeff Green’s multi-positional ability (he spent 57 percent of last season at the 4 and 44 percent at the 5) bodes well for the Denver Nugget’s regular and post-season aspirations.