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With D-League call-up season already underway, many of the league's top prospects are being plucked by NBA affiliates, and one of the best in the game is officially off the board. The Utah Jazz announced they would be signing Reno Bighorns point guard Erick Green to a 10 day deal.
This season, Erick Green has been one of the most talented scorers in the D-League, averaging 26.1 points per game for a 16-10 Bighorns team. Green was taken with the 46th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, where he played a total of 43 games in the 2014-15 season, averaging 3.4 points per game.
Following the call-ups of many top players, this looks like the perfect situation for a young D-League player. The Jazz are trying to get into the playoffs, but injuries to a great deal of their players might derail that.
First it was Dante Exum, out with an ACL tear suffered with Team Australia, then the Jazz lost Raul Neto to a concussion. The Jazz are only down to Trey Burke, and now Erick Green has been thrust into the backup role.
Green has shown several times in his career that he can be a dominant player, as he put up 25 points per game on 48% shooting, as well as his stint in the D-League. In this tough stretch where Utah will weigh its options, Green is a good player to have to fill the void.
Is he a long term solution? It doesn't seem likely, but a scorer could be vital for Utah right now. The Jazz are at the crossroads, weighing their options between sticking with Trey Burke or choosing to try to trade for someone like Jeff Teague on the deadline.
One of the other advantages with Green is his experience at the NBA level, as he is familiar with the ways of the league. The Jazz aren't having someone make their NBA debut, this guy has played nearly half of an NBA season before.
Even if Erick Green struggles a lot at the pro level, he could still be a contributor on a potential playoff team. Or, maybe he can translate a good percentage of his scoring to the NBA, and he could be a rare find that could take Utah to the next level.
With the current state of affairs in Utah, filling a void with a low risk, high reward player could be a valuable move, and it will be interesting for Jazz and D-League fans alike to see how Erick Green pans out.