Prepare yourself for a long, hard, arduous slog through Blake Griffin trade rumors, because they aren’t going anywhere.
That’s weird, and kind of annoying, knowing the Los Angeles Clippers won’t be trading him anytime soon, perhaps at all. Griffin is recovering from a fractured right hand he suffered when punching the team’s assistant equipment manager, and it wouldn’t make too much sense to trade someone of his caliber while he’s injured, his value ostensibly lower than ever.
But that doesn’t mean the Clippers won’t eventually move him. Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical previously reported the Clippers would move him in a heartbeat if it meant signing Kevin Durant over the summer, and he has since expanded upon that stance.
In a video for the Vertical, Wojnarowski once again notes that the Clippers would sell off Griffin to create enough space for Durant but also hints that they might look at more general trade scenarios for the 26-year-old All-Star depending on how this season shakes out:
Even without Durant, this franchise will make hard decisions on its future if it doesn’t make a deep playoff run this spring. And league sources tell me that will start at looking hard on the market for deals involving Griffin. The moment of truth for the Clippers, it’s coming this spring. And it all begins and ends with Blake Griffin
Dealing Griffin over the offseason, provided he makes a successful return to action this year, won’t be especially hard. Teams fall over themselves once a superstar becomes available—even one who poses an iffy fit because he can’t shoot threes and doesn’t play defense particularly well.
But Griffin is slated for free agency in 2017 (player option), and it could be tough for the Clippers to maximize his market value unless he agrees to opt into the last year of his deal or re-sign with the team that trades for him. And brokering that kind of accord will involve catering to Griffin’s preferred list of destinations, another issue in itself.
If what Wojnarowski hears is correct, this is an inevitable day of reckoning the Clippers will have to face. They most likely aren’t making a deep playoff run, because the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs exist, and that, per this report, means it’s only a matter of time before they look to part ways with their second-best player.
