Blake Griffin Traded

On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Clippers shockingly decided to part ways with oft-injured superstar Blake Griffin, trading him to the Pistons. The deal sends Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjonovic, a first-round pick and a second-round pick to Los Angeles in exchange for Griffin, Brice Johnson, and Willie Reed. This deal will have ripple effects for many years to come. Here is what is means for both the Clippers and the Pistons at the present moment.

Detroit Pistons Perspective

Desperate times call for desperate measures and that is precisely what drove Stan Van Gundy to gamble on an aging injury-prone power-forward who relies heavily on his athleticism. The Pistons are currently in the ninth spot in the East and if they do in fact miss the postseason, which would be the case if the season were to end today, Van Gundy would be looking for a new job. I think a front court of Andre Drummond and Griffin is fine on paper, but I think when the rubber meets the road they will not be effective playing alongside one another. With that said, the slim chance that this works is worth the gamble. With Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris the Pistons weren’t going anywhere.

Los Angeles Clippers Perspective

The Clippers did Blake dirty. After recruiting him all summer with the pitch of building the franchise around him and even one day retiring his number, they dumped him to Detroit the second the waters got rough. This likely means that the Clippers are punting on this season and thus seems likely that Lou Williams and DeAndre Jordan will be shopped as well. I can’t say I disagree with the Clippers blowing it up given the state of the NBA. They certainly can’t compete in the present moment, so they might as well build for the future. The question then becomes whether or not Doc Rivers will be there to lead them in that future state.