With Blake Griffin likely testing unrestricted free agency this summer, where might he end up? Here’s a look at five potential landing spots for the All-Star power forward.
Following their seven-game loss to the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs, the Los Angeles Clippers have some hard decisions to face this summer.
There are plenty of reasons to avoid “blowing it up,” but with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick all able to become unrestricted free agents this summer, other teams around the league are already preparing pitches in the event any one of them fields outside offers.
CP3 has more than 200 million reasons to remain with Lob City, while Redick may have played himself out of the Clippers’ price range as the team’s fourth best player. Griffin, however, remains the biggest mystery among the Clippers’ pending free agents.
At 28 years old, Griffin’s athleticism is slowly but surely starting to diminish. He’s still in the prime of his career, but that prime has been hindered by season-ending injuries the last two playoffs, not to mention devastating postseason collapses when he has been healthy.
Griffin averaged 21.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game this season while attempting a career-high 113 three-pointers, but only converted them at a 33.6 percent clip and missed 21 games due to injury. He has a decent midrange game, and when healthy, he’s still a top-15 player in the league.
The question teams will have to gauge — aside from whether or not he’ll actually consider L.A. — is will he stay healthy enough to warrant the max contract he’ll receive after missing a combined 83 games over the last three seasons?
Injury worries aside, Blake Griffin is a max player that plenty of teams would love to sign. Here’s a look at his five best free agency destinations this summer.
Honorable Mentions: Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks