Blake Griffin: 5 potential landing spots in free agency

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

Thanks to LeBron James and Kevin Durant, there are two big narratives surrounding every marquee free agent now: Will he return home? and Will he join Superstar X to form a super team?

Blake Griffin returning home to Oklahoma would somehow combine both. Griffin was born in Oklahoma City, played for the Sooners in college and there’s no denying that pairing him with Russell Westbrook would make for a star-studded, high-flying dynamic duo.

However, as fun as this free agency union would be, there might be too many hurdles for it to actually come to fruition. Thanks to those massive extensions for Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams kicking in this summer, not to mention Enes Kanter‘s $17.9 million salary, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be strapped for cap space.

Even if they found a way to move Kanter, let Taj Gibson walk and allowed Andre Roberson to sign an offer sheet elsewhere without matching, they’d still need to move foundational pieces — like Oladipo or Adams, for example — to be able to offer the four-year, $130 max deal other teams can put on the table.

There’s also an issue of fit. Giving Westbrook another offensive weapon would be great, but the Thunder should take a cue from the Houston Rockets, who supported their facilitator with shooters to make his life easier. Griffin has a great midrange jumper, but his range doesn’t extend to three-point territory, further clogging the lane for one of the NBA’s great penetrators.