For the Detroit Pistons, it’s “Deeetroit Basketbaaaall”.
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Where it will lead is anyone’s guess.
Pistons’ Blake Griffin answers a few questions at the press conference. “But when a player decides to leave, he’s not loyal, he’s a snake, he’s not committed”. “Our goal is to be very, very good for a long period of time and to compete with the National Basketball Association elite”. Third-year forward Stanley Johnson, whose role will expand with forward Tobias Harris and shooting guard Avery Bradley going to Los Angeles, scored a career-high 26 points. The Pistons weren’t in a clear rebuilding mode, but improving the roster wasn’t going to be easy.
It seems like a discourtesy for the Clippers not to at least inform Griffin of the trade prior to the entire world finding out, but you have to look at it from the team’s perspective.
“Again, with the goal being that we want to be in a position to compete for an National Basketball Association championship, that flexibility is paramount in order to add the talent we want to add to the team”, Frank said without mentioning specifics.
The upside is obvious. Griffin is locked up for the next three years then has a player option he’ll probably exercise – because he’s so expensive, another complication. Griffin re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers last summer but finds himself in the Midwest after a blockbuster deal that included six players and two draft picks.
“Everybody can view that differently”. Yet despite all of the injury concerns that came with Griffin, the Clippers still chose to sign the former No. 1 overall pick to a five-year contract that would pay him around $35 million per season- and nearly $39 million in the final year. At first glance, the Pistons should be jumping for joy bringing in a player that averages around 21 points and 9 rebounds per game.
Griffin wasn’t allowed to practice with his new team on Wednesday because all players involved had to complete their physicals. Everybody wanted power hitting and on-base percentage. If not, they might revisit this trade discussion with regret. What did they go do?
As good as Griffin has been throughout his career, it would be very hard to argue that the production he provides is worth 30 percent of a team’s salary cap. “We didn’t go searching with that philosophy”. This season, Griffin has had to miss a number of games due to a problematic knee and also because he suffered a concussion earlier in the season.
Despite having new teammates and playing under a new system, Griffin says he believes he and Pistons All-Star big man Andre Drummond can make a huge impact.
The Pistons are at a place where pushing all the chips to the middle of the table might be its best move, even if it means parting with another first round pick.
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No matter how this deal turns out, it feels like a tipping point for Van Gundy, the kind of trade that could define his tenure in Detroit. “I found out pretty much when everybody else found out”. Griffin was recently tied to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a trade rumor involving another former Rookie of the Year, Karl Anthony-Towns. “How do you get the real superior talents in this league?”
