Detroit Pistons: It’s time to ask some tough questions about Blake Griffin

Can the Detroit Pistons trade Blake Griffin?

Head coach Dwane Casey hasn’t done Griffin any favors in the early goings this season. He’s gotten heavy minutes when he plays and his deterioration is evident as games go on. While other NBA teams in the market for sharp-shooting bigs might have entertained some preseason notions of keeping an eye on Griffin, he’s been exposed by his own coach as unable to shoulder a heavy load.

Considering no team would be looking to trade for him as a featured part of their offense anyway, this was an unnecessary step from Casey. Of course for Casey’s part, trying to get wins is the key, not trying to drive up Griffin’s trade value, but it’s an undeniable byproduct of the fallout of his early performance and workload.

It’s worth noting that all of this is in spite of a career-low usage rate of 21.0 percent.

So if teams were interested early, it’s safe to say they’ve moved on. In addition, there are going to be younger and cheaper targets on the trade market (maybe even John Collins if the Atlanta Hawks want to make a move), and the notion of NBA teams sitting on pins and needles just dying to trade stuff to the Pistons for Blake Griffin is held exclusively by fans in Detroit.