Blake Griffin’s latest setback, a season-ending big toe injury, hasn’t changed the Los Angeles Clippers’ plans this summer: They are still going to re-sign him.
From The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via RealGM):
“Griffin is still a significant part of the Clippers’ future. Management remains committed to signing him to a long-term deal this summer, league sources tell me,” said Adrian Wojnarowski in a video essay.
“In a lot of ways, Griffin has been most loyal to the Clippers’ brand. He has never had wanderlust, never floated ideas about leaving town. Truth be told, he’s accommodated Paul in every way. Broadened his own game, grown as a leader and taken a lot of unfair finger pointing and blame once the All-Star point guard became the face of the franchise.”
Wojnarowski also said “it’s hard to imagine a split with Griffin.”
There will be plenty of people clamoring for change if the Clippers get bounced in the first or second round of the playoffs. The Big Three has been together for six years now and failed to reach the Western Conference Finals. They have grown, in the eyes of many, stale.
On top of that, Griffin’s next deal isn’t necessarily going to be a good one. He’s eligible for a max contract that will pay him 30 percent of next season’s salary cap—so, about $30.3 million in Year 1. With all the injuries he’s suffered, combined with his average-to-below-average floor-spacing at a power forward position that demands unicorn-esque skill sets, the latter end of that deal figures to be brutal.
The Clippers, though, won’t care about any of this, and it has nothing to do with head coach and team president Doc Rivers’ shaky business methods. Getting a top-20 player who often plays like a top-10, top-15 talent is the hardest thing in the NBA. The Clippers have two in Griffin and Chris Paul, both of whom will reach the open market this July. You don’t let those guys walk away for nothing. If they’re willing to come back, you re-sign them and figure out the rest later.
That’s the scenario most likely to play out in Los Angeles. Any possible teardown will come in the future, at next year’s trade deadline, over the 2018 offseason or beyond, when the Clippers can capitalize on departures via trade. The only way the band breaks up in the coming months is if Griffin or Paul get wandering eyes they decided to act upon.
