Trajan Langdon has orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in NBA history with the Detroit Pistons, and a big part of it has been finding impact players on the fringes like Javonte Green.
When the Pistons signed the journeyman veteran back in August, it was a non-guaranteed contract that didn’t warrant much more than a two-sentence press release, which is pretty much all it got, though I did think the signing had some hidden benefits.
Green had bounced around the league and was never able to stick anywhere or find regular rotation minutes outside of 50 games on a tanking Pelicans team.
Green had a reputation as a solid and versatile defender, so on the surface, his signing seemed like a back of the bench culture move to add a tough veteran who probably wouldn’t play much.
Injuries forced Green into more minutes than expected, and what started as a forgettable roster move has produced the unsung hero of the Pistons’ season so far.
Javonte Green has played his way into an important role in the rotation
Green has appeared in every game this season for the Pistons, which was not something I expected to write coming into the season, and he’s a guy who has clearly earned JB Bickerstaff’s trust, as he is often on the floor in crunch time.
Green has not only played outstanding defense all over the floor, but he’s been a decent and more important, timely, 3-point shooter who has hit some daggers for the Pistons. It seems like every long-range shot he hits is a big one.
Green’s 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game don’t tell the whole story, as he’s one of those junkyard dog players whose impact is hard to measure in traditional stats, though he is averaging 1.3 steals in under 20 minutes per game.
A stat that also stands out is that Green is top 10 in the NBA in deflections per 75 possessions, averaging 2.8 per game. He has a long wingspan and seems to get his hands on a lot of balls as a point of attack defender.
Coach Bickerstaff had him defending Donovan Mitchell in crunch time against the Cavs, and Green was able to force him into tough, contested shots.
If there is anyone who personifies “Pistons basketball,” it’s Green, who doesn’t care about stats but just tries to make winning plays to help the team while adding an element of hustle and energy from the bench.
Every great team needs players like Green, the veteran garbage men who make all the little winning plays that often go unnoticed. He’s doing all this on a veteran’s minimum contract, and when you weigh that against his impact, Green has been Trajan Langdon’s best signing so far.
I’ve said this all season, but it’s key to win the battles on the margins in the tax apron era, to find players like Green, Paul Reed and Daniss Jenkins who can provide impact without hurting the cap sheet and Langdon has hit nothing but home runs so far.