Back of the napkin calculation... Max Year 1 salary is going to be about $17.4 mil. The difference over the first 3 years would be negligible (about $1.5mm). It's the 4th guaranteed year at $21.3mm that would be the tough one for some players to turn down. For someone like DHoward, who would want to hit free agency as frequently as possible, I'm not sure this is such a big deal.

The other option (and, I think, the best option for both the Celtics and Jeff) is to do nothing and let him play out his option at the QO of $5.9 mil. Call it the "Rod Tidwell Option." After his 10-11 season, the C's have no idea what his true value is and he needs an opportunity to prove that he's among the Granger/Gay tier of SFs (or not). I think it's very unlikely that another team makes an offer that Green would find more appealling. Both sides are best served pushing the long-term decision off for another year.