2017 NBA free agency: Is Blake Griffin or Paul Millsap better?
Playmaking
Both Millsap and Griffin are two of the better playmaking power forwards in the NBA. Either one can initiate an offense in the half-court or create open looks for others. While you may not want to depend on that very often, it is a tool they can use from time to time.
Griffin is one of the most underrated passers in all of the NBA. He has averaged at least seven assists per 100 possessions each of the previous three seasons. Last season he ranked seventh out of all forwards (small forwards included) who played at least 50 games. He’s right up there with the likes of Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
When we look at more advanced stats, Griffin’s numbers stick out even more. He assisted on 23.5 percent of his team’s baskets when he was on the floor. He also posted an assist-to-turnover ration of 2.11. That ranks him eighth and 12th, respectively, of all forwards who played at least 50 games.
The above play is a staple of the Clippers’ offense and is rarely seen in the NBA. It’s a center- power forward pick-and-roll.
Griffin does an excellent job reading the floor and realizes that his defender is trying to fight through the screen instead of staying with DeAndre Jordan. Griffin waits until exactly the right moment to flip a pass towards the rim. Of course, it helps when you have a player who can grab anything and everything in the rim’s vicinity.
This is a perfect illustration of why Griffin’s passing ability is very underrated. He has great vision and passing accuracy for a man of his size.
Even though Millsap isn’t as notorious of a passer as Griffin, he can still hold his own. Millsap averaged 5.3 assists per 100 possessions last year, which was a career high.
Millsap’s assist percentage (17.2 percent) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.59) were both lower than Griffin’s as well. Part of this is due to the fact that Millsap was not asked to create as much as his counterpart.
Millsap is mostly a complementary piece to the offense which stresses ball movement and precision passing. That’s not to say that Millsap can’t be a creator for his teammates, as he did have eight games last year with seven or more assists.
Take this play for instance. Millsap does a great job of rolling down the middle of the floor after he sets the screen. This gets home open to receive the pass. The ball touches his hands only for a second until he quickly diagnosis the situation. He whips a pass to the far corner to a wide open Ersan Ilyasova. Ilyasova is then able to knock down the wide open three.
It’s plays like this that make Millsap so desirable in free agency. He has good passing ability and court awareness to make the necessary plays and passes.
Unfortunately for Millsap, his passing abilities don’t match up to Griffin’s. Unlike the previous two categories, Griffin is the one bringing the wide range of tools to the table as he is a multi-faceted playmaker.