Season-In-Review: Gerald Green

Gerald, we hope the Pacers and their fans like your dunking ability, because us Nets fans certainly miss it

This post, along with the other posts I will do in the Season-In-Review series, will take a deeper look at how all the Nets did last season on the court and possibly off of it. We continue with the upstart Gerald Green. I covered Gerald Wallace last.

Gerald Green was rescued from the NBA D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders by the Nets on February 27th, 2012, and the swing-man never looked back. Originally, the Nets, an injury-depleted mess of a team, were just looking for any small forward who could go into games and simply not be terrible. With a low-risk, 10-day contract, the Nets signed Green to fill that role and oh boy did the Nets get some return for their investment.

After his first 10-day contract with the team, Gerald signed another 10-day and then eventually signed on with New Jersey for the rest of the season after showing the coaching staff that he was one of, if not the best, healthy Nets players on the court at some points in the condensed 2011-12 campaign.Green is most notable around the NBA for winning the 2007 Slum Dunk Contest while a member of the Celtics, in his first go-around of the NBA.

Gerald has absurd athleticism and hops, which is what the Nets were assuredly lacking of last year and is what he brought to the team last season, capped off by a crazy, alley-hoop windmill jam he threw down against the Rockets in March. However, the former 1st-round pick of Boston brought much more to New Jersey after the All-Star break than just his dunking ability, he displayed an incredibly well-rounded repertoire in his game that simply wasn't present in the five seasons he was in the NBA before heading overseas and to the D-League.

Recapping the Nets' Offseason, A Very Big One Indeed

Brooklyn's brand new backcourt. Watch out Eastern Conference, this duo means business.

So, I'm back. I returned from sleepaway camp two days ago and I'm slowly catching up and coming to grips with everything that has happened regarding the Nets' roster over the past eight or so weeks. Let's review each Nets' transaction (or non-transaction, you'll see what I mean) going back to Draft Night, which fell on June 27th this year:

Portland Trailblazers trade the 41st overall pick in 2012 Draft (G Tyshawn Taylor) to Nets for cash considerations
Entering this year's draft, the Nets only had one pick, the 57th overall pick in the 2nd-round. I guess Billy King liked Taylor, a point guard from the University of Kansas, so much that he didn't want to wait for him at 57 and instead used some of Mikhail Prokhorov's extra cash to nab Taylor with pick 41. Tyshawn, a Hoboken, NJ native, figures to be a part-time player for this year's Nets team who will share back-up PG duties with recent signee C.J. Watson.

Philadelphia 76ers trade the 54th overall pick in 2012 Draft (F Tornike Shengalia) to Nets for cash considerations
I don't follow European/foreign basketball very much so I have no first-hand experience in watching any of the Nets foreign acquisitions play but according to some scouting reports, Shengalia is a physical rebounding/defense type who won't be an offensive superstar but has some decent moves down in the post. His 6'9" frame is better suited for the 4 than the 3 as one of his major weaknesses is lack of a reliable jumper. My best guess is that he's a project who figures to not make much of an effect in the meantime.

Nets Sign Gerald Green For the Rest of the Season

Green, a crazy high-flyer, won the NBA Dunk Contest in 2007

The Nets have officially signed small forward Gerald Green for the rest of the 2011-12 season. This was basically a foregone conclusion as Green has been a revelation for the Nets at small forward since the team called him up from the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the D-League a few weeks ago. There was some talk that Gerald would be signed for next season as well but I guess the Nets are going to delay on that decision to keep as much cap space for the offseason as possible.

Has Gerald Green Become Another Viable Trade Asset for the Nets in their Push for Dwight?

Green was drafted 18th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2005 NBA Draft

In a breakout performance in Saturday's Nets loss to the Houston Rockets, recent D-League call-up Gerald Green, who is on his 2nd 10-day contract with New Jersey, went absolutely bonkers for 26 points on 10-15 shooting with four 3-pointers. He also had one of the craziest in-game dunks in recent memory (sorry Blake Griffin, you haven't matched this yet).

Other than showing that he can be the starting small forward for this team (and an effective one at that), Green showed with his performance that he could even be included in a potential trade package that could bring Dwight Howard up to New Jersey by the NBA trade deadline, which happens to be on Thursday of this week.

A lot of talk around the NBA has revealed that New Jersey is Dwight's #1 choice of teams but there has also been some questions as to if the Magic, specifically GM Otis Smith, would be intrigued by a potential trade with the Nets who would probably build a package around center Brook Lopez, guard Marshon Brooks, and a few 1st-round draft picks. The problem is that that doesn't seem to be enough for the Magic to pull the trigger on sending away their franchise center who is basically the only reason that Orlando is any good right now.

Nets Sign Gerald Green from the D-League

Green is a complete player who can help the Nets in countless ways on the court

In order to replace Andre Emmett's roster spot after his 10-day contract ended, the Nets signed former NBA player Gerald Green, who won the 2007 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, from the D-League's Los Angeles D-Fenders. By signing Green, the Nets look to finally stabilize the low-performing small forward position which has plagued the team all season. Green has been tearing up the D-League in his relatively short stint with the D-Fenders and even was the MVP of the NBDL's All-Star game that took place on Saturday afternoon.

So far this season, the extremely athletic Green has averaged 19.1 PPG and 4.6 APG in addition to nearly lights-out shooting (48% FG, 46% 3PT, 84% FT). He provides the Nets with an athlete that can simply jump out of the arena and this skill can help dividends on offense as well as on defense. More than anything else, New Jersey just needs a player who can shake things up and hopefully push the incumbent members of the team to push themselves more to maintain their playing times.

Overall, I love the signing and I think that Green will be a great addition to this Nets squad. He already has substantial NBA experience so his learning, or developmental, curve won't be as steep as those of other D-League call-ups who only had minor cups of coffee in the NBA prior to being called-up by the Nets. Look for this guy to make a difference down the stretch of this season.