Sources are reporting that Celtics' forward Jeff Green will be out for the season due to heart surgery. Though doctors are telling Green that he should be able to come back to basketball after this season, anything dealing with heart problems is scary for any person, especially an athlete who relies on being in tip top shape for his profession. This could potentially be a huge blow for the Celtics.
Fans of the Celtics spent last year questioning the move of sending big man Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City in return for Jeff Green. Green seemed to be hesitant in his diminished role in Boston, coming off the bench for the first time since the beginning of his rookie season. I think a lot of the "struggles" Green experienced last year with the Celtics had a lot to do with him being uncomfortable in his new role.
Fast forward to this year, and I think Green would've been a lot more comfortable coming off the bench for this Celtics team. And with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce not getting any younger, Green was set to be one of the most important bench players in the entire league. The lockout causing bunches of games in short periods of time is going to absolutely kill the Celtics aging team, and Doc is going to have to proceed with caution during the regular season.
Cutting minutes for the Big 3 is not going to be as easy as it sounds, now that Jeff Green is lost for the year. Green was the versatile guy that could come in to spell any of the three aging veterans. And not only was he going to spell them, he was actually going to do a pretty damn good job while in there. Now, the Celtics are left handcuffed with poor options in the free agent market. They are left with guys like Sasha Pavlovic (girl?) and Marquis Daniels to back up Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. That's a pretty big drop off from a career 14 and 5 guy like Jeff Green.
Celtics fans are hoping for one last hurrah from their Big 3, before they go fading into mediocrity with Rajon Rondo. But the aging talent coupled with the depleted bench leaves me thinking that the C's are going to be surprisingly average this year.
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