Willie Green: ‘I definitely want to keep playing’

Many Orlando Magic players and NBA observers think combo guard Willie Green will become an NBA head coach one day.

But Green, who will turn 34 years old in July, is in no rush to end his playing career.

“I definitely want to keep playing,” Green said. “I feel like I still have a good maybe three or four years — who knows? — or even more.”

Green has appeared in 46 of the Magic’s 75 games this season.

In 18.0 minutes per game, he’s averaged 5.8 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He’s made 35.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and has been a reliable defender.

Green will have a choice to make this offseason. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent in July, but he indicated he’s open to remaining with the Magic.

“Like I’ve said before, this is a great possibility for me to come back here,” Green said. “Obviously, I would have to talk it over with my representatives and Rob [Hennigan] and Scott Perry. But I like what I see. I like where it’s going here in this organization, and I still feel like I have something to offer to the game.”

Healthy scratch

Power forward Channing Frye didn’t play in the Magic’s 103-91 loss Wednesday night to the San Antonio Spurs even though he was healthy and able to play.

Dewayne Dedmon started at power forward, and Kyle O’Quinn played six minutes off the bench, while Andrew Nicholson played 17 minutes off the bench. Small forwards Tobias Harris and Aaron Gordon shifted to power forward at times, too.

“I wanted to give Kyle O’Quinn a shot for a few minutes,” interim coach James Borrego said. “And we went [with] Tobias at some big spots. We went [with] Aaron Gordon at some big spots. You can’t play six bigs in a night, and Channing was the odd man out tonight.”

The Magic signed Frye to a four-year, $32 million contract during the offseason, but it’s important to note that team officials always viewed Frye as a complementary player, not a marquee player. Team officials valued Frye because of his ability to stretch the floor on offense; they believed his outside shooting would open driving lanes for youngsters Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo and Evan Fournier.

Frye’s outside shooting ability has helped stretch the floor, but Frye has been a liability on defense, especially when he’s been paired alongside center Nikola Vucevic.

The Magic have allowed 108.0 points per 100 possessions when Frye has been on the floor this season, according to the NBA’s statistics database.

That’s the worst defensive efficiency rating for any player on the Magic roster this season.

Dedmon, on the other hand, has the Magic’s best defensive efficiency rating. Orlando has given up just 97.5 points per 100 possessions when Dedmon has been on the court.

Dedmon played 24 minutes in the loss to the Spurs before he fouled out with 9:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. He finished with seven points, 10 rebounds and one blocked shot.

He said his left ankle, which had caused him to miss four of the Magic’s previous five games, felt “pretty good.”

Dedmon is under contract for the 2015-16 season, but his salary is unguaranteed.

“The next game is another opportunity to show what I can do, to show them why I should come back for another year,” Dedmon said.

jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.