By Peter Stringer
January 6, 2006
Celtics.com
Gerald Green has left the Celtics to play for the Patriots.

The Fayetteville Patriots, that is. Executive Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge announced that the Celtics assigned Green to the NBA Developmental League just before tonight's game against Atlanta. And while the Celtics' NBDL affilliate is technically the Florida Flames, the C's got permission to send him to the Fayetteville, North Carolina team to avoid a logjam at the shooting guard spot on the Florida squad.

While the Celtics see tons of potential in the rookie, the upcoming schedule made finding minutes for Green a tall order. Since he wouldn't be able to find playing time in Boston, and practice time will be limited by the team's hectic travel schedule over the next few weeks, the club decided it was in Green's best interest to get the chance to earn some playing time in the D-League.

"Gerald's development remains one of our top priorities," said Ainge. "He's progressing just as we expected, and we think this is a step in the right direction. This allows Gerald more of an opportunity to continue developing his game."

Green, who's put on more than 18 pounds since arriving, has said in the past that he'd prefer to stay with the Celtics than take an assignment to the D-League, but now he says he feels playing time will be more beneficial.

"I think I've learned tremendously," said Green. "But I think that honestly, I can learn a little more about playing by actually playing instead of just sitting around looking at game tape."

Green has impressed the team's staff with the amount of work he's done off the court to prepare for the NBA, especially how he's added size and strength to his frame. Ainge will be accompanying Green for the first few days of his stay to get a sense of how the process works. Given how new the D-League is to the NBA, there's a bit of an unknown factor in figuring out exactly how an assignment will be handled, and when affiliates are shared by multiple NBA teams, playing time isn't guaranteed. So Green will have to earn his keep, so to speak.

While there's no timetable for how long Green will remain in Fayetteville, Ainge stressed that the move is an opportunity and not a demotion for Green.

"The most important thing is for Gerald to go down there with the right attitude," said Ainge. "It's an opportunity to develop and I think Gerald does have the right attitude about it. Go down there and earn your minutes and show that you belong."

Fans hoping to catch Green in action can check NBA TV, which is broadcatsing several D-League games throughout the year. The MLK Showcase tournament is being held in Fayetteville January 15-16 and Green figures to get in on the action.