Celtics awarded 2nd round pick for Jeff Green’s condition

The NBA has granted Boston a 2013 second-round pick from Oklahoma City in a dispute over Jeff Green’s medical condition, sources tell Y!

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 26, 2012

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsApparently, there had been some behind-the-scenes complaining by Danny Ainge that led to this.  I’m not sure about the particulars, but you get the gist of it in that tweet.  The Celtics weren’t happy about the discovery of Green’s heart condition, and now that he’s a free agent, it’s possible they may lose him completely (though that’s their own fault.  They didn’t have to make him an unrestricted free agent… they did it as a gesture of goodwill).  The NBA apparently felt the heart condition warranted further compensation, which means the Celtics will get the 2nd round pick OKC owns from Charlotte.

Of course, some of the more seasoned followers of the Celtics will throw their hands in the air and say “oh NOW the NBA gives us compensation for a player with a heart condition.”  When Reggie Lewis died, the NBA notoriously refused to give the Celtics any sort of salary cap relief for a player that was no longer alive.  And yes, those of us who remember that are still bitter about it, because it was (a) the absolute wrong thing to do and it amounted to a kick to the crotch and (b) it didn’t help the Celtics get out of their 20+ year slide into a championship drought.

Anyway, the Celtics have an extra second-rounder next season.  That’s a nice surprise.