Los Angeles Clippers: Top 10 moments from 2017-18 NBA season
2. Shocking trade
When the Clippers shipped Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons at the end of January, it sent shockwaves throughout the NBA roughly a month before expected. There were no rumors of a possible Griffin trade leading up to that moment, nor did the five-time All-Star ever express wanting out of Los Angeles.
Griffin had just signed a brand new five-year, $173 million contract, making it seem like he’d be with the Clippers for the foreseeable future.
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The trade was essentially a waving of the white flag, as dealing Griffin shed loads off their salary cap, while the Pistons sent back a nice haul in return.
Tobias Harris proved to be a valuable stretch forward, averaging 19.3 points in 32 games in L.A. Boban Marjanovic has provided Clippers fans with plenty of antics and entertainment.
What is arguably the best asset the Clippers received is Detroit’s first round pick, which is slated to land at No. 12 and will give L.A. another piece in its rebuilding phase.
It was weird to see a team that had wooed Griffin in the offseason with talks of being a Clipper for life trade him roughly halfway through the season, but it allowed L.A. to hit the reset button before it was to late.