Brooklyn Nets: Does Blake Griffin have one more revival left?

The Brooklyn Nets appear to be poised to claim Blake Griffin when he clears waivers on Sunday afternoon. He was bought out by the Detroit Pistons on Friday and it seems he’s going to have his pick of contenders to join.

Aside from the Nets, teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat are all rumored to be interested in his services, but Brooklyn sounds like his first choice. It seems clear from this fact that Griffin believes the Nets to be the frontrunner for an NBA championship.

Can Blake Griffin have one more revival for the Brooklyn Nets?

In mid-February, Griffin and the Pistons came to an agreement that he would be removed from the lineup while the organization found a way to send him to a team of his choosing. Given the gargantuan nature of his contract, trading him was untenable. Instead, Griffin gave back about $13.3 million of his remaining $56.8 million salary in order to be set free.

The Nets are in pursuit because they believe he can help them achieve their goal of winning an NBA championship, but it’s important to remember that he was dropped from the lineup because he wasn’t a plus contributor for the Pistons. Eventually, it made no sense to continue to squeeze productive young players out of the rotation for 35 bad minutes of Blake Griffin every night.

Every team interested in his services will point to the revival that Nicolas Batum has had for the LA Clippers. Batum was bad for years with the Charlotte Hornets, finally getting his contract stretched and waived in order for them to sign Gordon Hayward. The Clippers snapped him up for the minimum and Batum has been excellent ever since.

It’s notable (although insignificant) that both Batum and Griffin’s last good season was in 2018-19. They both thrived from long distance in particular, and last season was a disaster for both. In Griffin’s case, he was hindered by a knee injury suffered late in 2018-19 that he simply never recovered from.

He missed the start of 2019-20 and ended up getting shut down just after Christmas. Because the Pistons season didn’t start until December 23rd, he went almost a whole year between NBA games.

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This season he’s shown a few flashes of the 2018-19 gunslinger that nearly set 3-point shooting records for the Pistons, but not enough to justify keeping him on the floor. After shooting 24.3 percent from long range last season, he’s shooting just 31.5 percent this season.

Blake Griffin’s defense is subpar at its very best, and a Brooklyn Nets team that already can’t stop anybody isn’t going to benefit from his presence. It’s not a matter of effort, Griffin just can’t move side to side or jump. That’s proven by the fact that he hasn’t dunked since 2019.

It’s going to be difficult for Griffin to be a plus contributor for the Brooklyn Nets, or anywhere else for that matter. His mobility and defense are nil, and he’s only a scoring threat from the 3-point line. He may well benefit from playing off the ball with James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, however, if he can get that 3-point stroke back from a couple of years ago.

Griffin is also an excellent playmaker, regardless of his other struggles. He has outstanding court vision and could benefit from having a trio of superstars around him.

We shouldn’t assume that Griffin won’t even be able to get on the floor with the Nets, but don’t make the mistake of thinking that he can be the missing piece to put them over the top. He hasn’t been sandbagging in Detroit, loafing about in a bad situation. After a year off due to an injury, that’s not how a professional like Blake Griffin returns to action.

He may find a new spark in Brooklyn, and hopefully, it’s enough to make him a positive.