Report: Milwaukee Bucks Sign Gerald Green to Training Camp Contract

It’s a veritable geriatric community gathering in the Milwaukee Bucks training camp this year. According to a report from Shams Charania, the Bucks have dipped their hand into the well once more and pulled out an aged player, this time being Gerald Green.

In a related move, Milwaukee did officially announce that it requested waivers on JeQuan Lewis, the undrafted guard from VCU who was signed way back on July 6th. Many will remember Lewis as the man almost everyone forgot was actually on this Bucks roster for the past two months.

The Green signing continues Milwaukee’s path down fortifying the end of their roster with another veteran presence. With Brandon Rush, James Young and Kendall Marshall already in the fold, Green represents another player to provide potential depth at the wing position. It seems that the days of Gary Payton II in Milwaukee are also limited with the proliferation of signings, as Bobby Marks indicates the final roster spot will come down to Gerald Green vs. Brandon Rush.

It’s worth noting that Green’s training camp contract is non-guaranteed. What could Green potentially offer the Bucks at this point in his career? Well, he’s a career 36.1% shooter from three on decent volume, including 35.1% last year on 2.4 attempts per game. He averaged just 11 minutes for Boston last year in 47 games, which is probably about the limit I would hope Milwaukee needs from him should he make the roster this year.

He’s certainly bouncier than Rush, many will remember Green’s flame-blowing cupcake antics from the 2008 slam dunk competition. His RPM numbers (-1.27 ORPM and -1.47 DRPM) provide an at least more consistent outlook than Brandon Rush, who has a -3.13 ORPM and -0.73 DRPM, but it illustrates Rush’s superiority as a defender. Green’s mild resourcefulness on offense coupled with not atrocious defense could be a more helpful addition to a Milwaukee team that lost the instant offensive stylings of Michael Beasley.

I would like to say that their 15th roster spot would be a break in case of emergency player, but I see a pretty easy route to both of those guys potentially getting playing time with Jason Kidd. Should Snell or Middleton need a breather and Sterling Brown not look ready for primetime, I’d expect one of these two would slide right in. With the news that Carmelo Anthony is headed to OKC, the bottom of the East looks even more like a steaming pile of garbage. Milwaukee should not be aiming for anything less than the 4th seed at this point, and I’d say having someone like Green or Rush does more for their chances in that respect than someone like GP II. Some people would probably disagree, but no 15th man is going to get enough playing time or have enough upside to become something special. I’ve made peace with either of these old folks upping Milwaukee’s average age come regular season tipoff.