Put yourself in my shoes for a second. You’re on the couch, watching the Nets play the Bucks, looking to see if Harden and KD can continue the seamless chemistry that they had in their first game for Brooklyn. During a commercial break, you pull out your phone and look at some of the box scores from the other games that night. Trae Young had 20 points and 13 assists, Luka Doncic put up 15/7/9 in a loss, and Victor Oladipo put on a show with 32 points in a loss. Then you come to the Detroit game.
Now, Detroit has not had anything to be excited about this season, going 3-10 at the time of writing this post, but I do check up on them every so often. Why? I’m a HUGE Derrick Rose fan, and to be honest, who isn’t? I’m also a fan of Blake Griffin. It isn’t a secret that Griffin isn’t the high-flying, alley-oop threat that he once was, but I don’t think anyone expects him to be that way in his 13th year in the league. What I’ve admired the most about Griffin is his ability to expand his game while losing some of his athleticism. I saw early in Griffin’s LA Clippers stint that he had the ability to put the ball on the floor and make plays for others. At the time, guys at Griffin’s position just weren’t doing that. If they caught the ball, a shot was going up. I think that, other than guys like LeBron and KD who could do everything on the floor, Griffin was the first guy I saw on a consistent level that could facilitate the offense. At the time, it was something that I hadn’t seen before in someone like Blake Griffin.
I think it is fair to say that his time in LA was mismanaged. The Clippers got close to being contenders a few times, but injuries and playoff collapses were too much to overcome, and they ended up not achieving their ultimate goal. As players like Chris Paul and Deandre Jordan started to be shipped off, or leave on their own terms, Griffin quickly became the last member of the “Lob City” Clippers. I think that a few people expected him to stay there a little longer than he did, but midway through the ’17-’18 season Griffin was traded to the Pistons. Sometimes players need new challenges in their life to reach a new apex, and playing in Detroit since about 2006 would definitely be viewed as a challenge, but Griffin up to that point in career had always been able to adapt and overcome. League starts shooting more threes? Griffin takes more threes. Need more playmaking with this depleted roster? On top of it. I wouldn’t consider Griffin’s stats since joining the Pistons to be dominant or anything of the sort, but he has become a serviceable playmaker, and a consistent scorer. Until he wasn’t.
On the night I was scrolling through box scores, I saw what I thought to be an error at the time. Blake Griffin against the Heat: 36 minutes, 8 FGA, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 5 points. A six time All-Star, and a former MVP candidate puts up just 5 points in three full quarters of play. I was astonished, but also not at the same time. Griffin hasn’t had a great stretch of games. In his last six he is only averaging 11.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5 assists, on 35% from the field, and 23% from deep. Yikes.
I figured that there would be less production from Griffin going into the season, due to the nature of the franchise, and all the signings they had this off season, namely Jerami Grant. Grant had come off a really good season for the Nuggets and signed a 3 year, $60 million deal with the Pistons this past off-season. The new kid in town was obviously going to get his touches and get his shots up in this new system, and I don’t think that it is a bad thing. Grant is averaging 24.9 points per game this year, so I think that is a success. There are other guys on the roster like Derrick Rose, Delon Wright, and Wayne Ellington who I knew were going to get shots up too, but I thought at the very least, Griffin would still be viewed as the first or second option in the starting five. I wouldn’t have imagined that his box score numbers would look like a G-League callup’s.
I’m getting to the age where I’m starting to see the guys who I grew up watching start to take a downfall in their career. Joakim Noah recently retired, and that was the first domino for me. I watched his whole career, and now is when others will start to retire as well. This may be the first step for Griffin. Most NBA careers don’t get to this point. I mean, the average NBA career only spans about four years. So to get to your 13th year in the league is surely nothing to scoff at. It does make me a bit sad though. I’ll probably never see a dunk like he did on Pau Gasol ever again. I was looking forward to “playmaker” Blake Griffin, but I think I won’t really get the version I had in my head. I envisioned Griffin being able to put up 18/7/6 a night, and being a Draymond Green type of player. Not defensively, obviously, but I figured that Griffin could be a guy that can get other people involved, run plays through him, and get his own bucket when needed. There is still time for that, I guess, but I’m not so sure.
My best guess for Griffin is that he gets dealt sometime this season, most likely before the trade deadline. The Pistons don’t have anything to play for, other than maybe lucking into the #1 draft pick, and selecting Cade Cunningham. With that in mind, the Pistons will get to sell shop. They’ll probably trade Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin to get back some picks or younger assets. I’d like to see Griffin go to a contender, maybe someone like Portland, or maybe even the Heat. I want to see Griffin in a position where he can win games, and showcase his talent on the floor, because what I’ve seen in the past three seasons is not that. If he doesn’t get traded, I’m sure that he’ll pick up his $38 million player option for next season, because why wouldn’t you? After that, if he doesn’t get traded next season, I think he may just sign a smaller deal with a contending team. Probably somewhere around $10-15 million a year.
I just want to see Blake Griffin win. I got to see him light up the league when he was able to finally play, and it was amazing being able to watch the entire length of the “Lob City” era. I know that he probably won’t get back to that level of himself, and I’m okay with that. I just want him to play for as long as possible, for his own sake, but also selfishly. I think the league is in very good hands with players like Ja Morant, De’Aaron Fox, and Trae Young, but it kind of sucks seeing the players you grew up with retire, or even just become shells of their former selves. I want to keep the idea of these kinds of players around as long as possible, and hopefully Griffin will be no exception.
Round The Game 
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