According to a report form Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, murmurs out of Blake Griffin’s camp are that when he enters free agency this off-season he wants and plans to re-sign with the Clippers quickly.
Report: Blake Griffin plans to re-sign quickly with Clippers this summer https://t.co/gnBBwAHwXQ
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) January 27, 2017
Here is the statement from Kyler in the Basketball Insiders article:
“Sources close to Griffin said recently that he is not remotely interested in changing teams and they expect the deal process to go very smoothly and quickly this summer.”
Griffin has maintained this stance since the off-season, but what is more interesting here is when you consider that the Clippers reportedly had some super secretive trade talks with a few teams around the trade deadline last year like the Nuggets and Magic. There is a chance that an early playoff exit or growing concerns with Griffin’s injury history could cause the Clippers to want to move on from Griffin and retool their franchise around Paul, Jordan and more shooters and athleticism on the wing.
It makes sense for Griffin to want to stay, he is playing with possibly the next pure point guard in the NBA, whom the Clippers will do or pay whatever to re-sign and more importantly for Griffin, he gets to stay in the Los Angeles market where he can easily pursue his interests with Hollywood.
You would think this would help convince Paul to re-sign for sure, but there are no guarantees. If the Clippers aren’t able to pry Melo from the Knicks and it doesn’t materialize into anything more than another second round exit, that could add another layer to this delicate game for the Clippers to maintain the quasi-contender status moving forward, especially when you consider J.J Reddick is also set to be a free agent and could command a lot of money on the open market.
The Clippers have shown, in recent seasons, to be just as effective with Paul and Jordan healthy and no Griffin as they are with their big three in tow. It won’t happen, but with the Clippers injury issues and the fact that Golden State will be nearly impossible to beat this year, I think the Clippers may be best served fielding the best offer of young wing talent for Griffin and saving themselves some money.
