Will Green go Green?

June 28, 2007

NEW YORK - David Stern, the NBA's globally driven commissioner, fantasizes about this sort of thing.

In one corner of a hotel ballroom, Joakim Noah, son of Yannick, the French tennis legend, spent as much time sparring with the French media in their native tongue as with American reporters in English.

In another, surrounded by an equally suffocating semicircle of reporters and cameras, Chinese star Yi Jianlian entertained the media from his homeland.

One table over, surrounded by roughly 10 reporters, Georgetown's Jeff Green shrugged. His day will come soon enough.

``I've never seen him on TV,'' the forward said of Yi. ``Maybe I'll send him a letter, but it's cool if he gets all the attention. I'm not into being in the spotlight. I've never liked talking about myself, but now I have to do it.''

Green wasn't entirely correct. The spotlight was particularly bright on Tuesday in Phoenix. The Suns, believing they have secured a lottery pick via trade, worked out Green, as well as Noah and his Florida teammate Corey Brewer.

The Celtics, interested in all three (along with Yi and North Carolina's Brandan Wright), were also present.

Green, who had spent the last month working out in Washington, D.C., before finally deciding to stay in the draft, took part in his only head-to-head workout against the Florida duo.

The Celtics thus got to match Green, projected as a swing forward, against power forward Noah and Brewer, a perimeter player who can defend at least three positions. It may have been the most revealing workout that Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers have seen since the NBA pre-draft camp in Orlando three weeks ago.

They were also careful not to share their thoughts with the young men on the floor.

``They haven't told me anything at all about their plans,'' Green said of the Celtics.

Brewer, who like Noah ultimately worked out for the C's twice, said, ``(The Celtics) seem to be interested, but I can't tell you what is going to happen.''

Noah smiled and kept his mouth closed when asked the same question. He seems to understand the process better than anyone.

But for Green and Brewer in particular, the workout brought to a head everything that they have heard about each other.

``I can sense that both Corey and me have been placed side by side in this draft,'' said Green. ``That's what I hear, anyway. People wanted to see us work out against each other, and that's what happened in Phoenix. But we also play two different positions, so I think it's hard to compare me and Corey.''

Brewer nodded.

``Everybody is always talking about how it's me and Jeff,'' he said. ``But when we saw each other (Tuesday), we just laughed about it.''

The bottom line is that both players are considered versatile, multiple-position players, with Green having the edge in power and Brewer in quickness. Either one could end up playing small forward for the Celtics after Ainge makes his decision tonight.

For Green, there is an odd aspect to his two Celtics auditions. He first got to know Rivers through his freshman teammate, Rivers' son Jeremiah.

``Yeah, it's kind of weird that he's working me out,'' said Green. ``I knew him because I know his son, and now here he is running me through workouts.''

It could soon be much more than that.