3. Blake Griffin
Forget playing well. Could Blake Griffin simply appear in more games than those he misses in 2019-20?
The Detroit Pistons have played 31 games this season. Griffin has appeared in only 16 of them, a large reason the team is 11th in the Eastern Conference with an 11-20 record.
As a result of bouncing between the bench and the court trying to work his way back to All-Star form, just about every single one of his counting stats are at career-worst levels or not too far behind.
They say trade Blake Griffin. Trade Andre Drummond. Trade Reggie Jackson. Heck, trade the Pistons’ mascot, Hooper, too.
— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) December 23, 2019
Trade everybody for first-round picks and vaporize the roster.
Changes are likely for flawed #Pistons; the question is, how dramatic?: https://t.co/CJaifbL4kN pic.twitter.com/Iy1eqDm37C
Griffin couldn’t have even started this season on the right foot if he tried after a hamstring injury kept him sidelined for the first 10 games of the season.
This is the $173 million man Detroit paid a premium for almost two years ago via trade to help return the franchise to a state of postseason normalcy. He was well worth that hefty price tag last season, making his first All-Star appearance in three years while helping the Pistons end a three-year playoff drought.
Now, his lack of health is restricting the Pistons from reaching what is already a mediocre ceiling, leaving them few paths to success and relying on the durability of a 30-year-old whose body continues to betray him.