Blake Griffin: 3 reasons he is a legitimate MVP candidate
By Jason Elbaum
1. He is showing much more desire to handle the ball and be a playmaker for his teammates
Another impact of the Chris Paul trade and probably the most significant was that the Clippers lost their primary offensive ballhandler. What remains is a defensive-minded point guard in Patrick Beverley, injured rookie Milos Teodosic and turnover-prone Austin Rivers. It’s clear that the Clippers needed someone to step up and restore the heartbeat to the offense.
Once again, it’s been Blake Griffin who has emerged and handled a great deal of the ball-handling abilities, much like 6’10” rookie Ben Simmons in Philadelphia. Griffin is showing much more of a desire to direct traffic on offense in order to create opportunities for his teammates.
The result has been seen in the form of the Clippers averaging 107.5 points per game, which is 10th in the NBA. Blake Griffin is averaging 4.5 assists per game with just 2.8 turnovers per game. His newfound willingness to find teammates for scoring opportunities will help his teammates around him improve while adding to his MVP resume.
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Overall, Blake Griffin will most likely not be considered for the MVP award this season just because of the high concentration of elite talent in the league. However, if the Clippers manage to secure a top-five seed in the Western Conference Playoffs, it’ll be difficult for voters to ignore Griffin’s tremendous improvement from last season.