Detroit Pistons: 3 goals for Blake Griffin in the 2020-21 season
By Duncan Smith
If the Detroit Pistons hope to make a quick rebound into the playoffs, they’ll need Blake Griffin in his best form. These three goals are how he can do that.
The Detroit Pistons have been careful to avoid calling their current situation a “rebuild”. From new general manager Troy Weaver to head coach Dwane Casey this offseason, their preferred description is a “retool”. Of course, this term implies using their current pieces in an optimal way, and one of the most important and intriguing pieces on this roster is Blake Griffin.
Last season (that’s 2018-19, for those of us who have forgotten what season this is) Griffin was an absolute workhorse, somewhat to his own detriment, but he got his Pistons into the playoffs. This season he paid the price, and that’s going to be something the organization must bear in mind going forward.
We’ll take a look at three goals for Blake Griffin going into next season, and we’ll start where all Blake Griffin conversations begin.
1. Get and stay healthy
This is the big one. A healthy Blake Griffin is an absolute monster in today’s NBA. Even with reduced athleticism in what will be his age-32 season (he doesn’t turn 32 until March, but the bulk of next season is likely to come after that point), he’s a crafty scorer and a brute force, and he’s a pretty decent volume 3-point shooter as well.
The problem is that pesky health of his. According to Griffin and the organization, he’s been 100 percent healthy since May or June, but it’s easy to say that now when he’s working out in Los Angeles or with teammates. A couple of minutes of in-game action might change all that, and we should remember that before this season began we were told he was healthy then as well.
On the plus side, between his late-December shut-down and what could be a late-December (at the absolute earliest) return to action for the 2020-21 season, Griffin will get a minimum of a 12-month break, and possibly a couple months longer.