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

Can the Pistons move him to the bench?

Of all the unpalatable options facing the Pistons, moving Griffin to the bench and reducing his workload might be the easiest to pull off, but it’s also not likely. As long as Blake Griffin can walk and is allowed to play by their medical staff, history suggests that Dwane Casey is going to ride him as the key to victory, statistical (and visual) evidence by damned.

This might also not help much as he just isn’t able to contribute in a positive way right now, and the days of him being able to do so at all could simply be behind him. It’s drastically unfair to Griffin that he finds himself in this position, because he’s worked so hard at getting and staying healthy, and reinvented his game in the face of declining athleticism in ways that no stars before him were able to do.

Blake Griffin has done everything right, and none of this is his fault. No matter how the Pistons end up proceeding, whether they keep trotting him out there and exposing him, or find a way to spirit him away to the bench, don’t lose sight of the fact that Griffin hasn’t brought any of this on himself. Fair just isn’t part of the equation in the NBA, and he’s been a victim of that fact.