Jeff Green will remain a member of the Memphis Grizzlies after exercising his $9.2-million player option for the 2015-16 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The 28-year-old was acquired by Memphis in January in a three-team deal that sent veteran forward Tayshaun Prince to the Boston Celtics and Quincy Pondexter to the New Orleans Pelicans.
He's now set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2016 when the NBA's salary cap is expected to rise to upwards of $89 million, as the league's new nine-year, $24-billion deal with ESPN and TNT comes into effect.
Green played a reduced role in the Home of the Blues after being the primary offensive option in Boston. With Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Mike Conley all ahead of him in the pecking order, the Georgetown alumnus saw his averages drop from 17.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in Beantown to 13.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in Memphis.
He was a non-factor in the Grizzlies' second-round series with the Golden State Warriors, putting up just 8.9 points while hitting one-third of his attempts in just over 27 minutes of action. Memphis was eventually ousted in six games, while the Warriors went on to win the 2015 NBA Championship.
Green is playing it safe financially after what was a humdrum season, especially after the trade to the Grizzlies. He'll now have his first full training camp with his team, which will hopefully lead to a more prosperous 2015-16 campaign.
