We are all assuming, at least I was, that Green will be acquired in this trade solely to make the salaries match. But this may not be the case. Green was selected 18th overall by the Celtics in 2005 when McDonough was already there, a year before they acquired Rondo's pick from the Suns. Unlike Rondo, Green never really blossomed in Boston, although he did show some improvement his second season. Then he was sent packing as part of the trade that brought Garnett to Boston. And in Minnesota, Green was buried on the bench like so many others before him.
So McDonough may very well feel that Green is a better player than he's been able to show, despite being 27 and now having played for six different NBA teams over the course of his six-year NBA career (he spent two years in Russia and China) and sporting 8.0 ppg in 17.5 mpg career averages. Or maybe they had a good relationship in Boston. Either way, it's probably not a coincidence that Green is the one rumored to be heading to Phoenix with McDonough here. I'd hate to think that this may be the primary motivation for this trade, when there may be better value to be gotten for Scola elsewhere.
