Blake Griffin is confident the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t just hand him a five-year, $173 million contract to begin next season on the bench.
So, yay(?)
Griffin’s 2016-17 campaign ended less than three games into the Clippers’ first-round playoff matchup with the Utah Jazz due to a right big toe injury. While the timetable for his return has always been a tad uncertain, he provided some clarification for his recovery on Wednesday:
"I expect to be ready by Training Camp." -BG#WelcomeBackBlake pic.twitter.com/mo8EeAaQgK
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 19, 2017
We’ll just assume the Clippers knew this timeline before they gave him all that money. It makes their decision to pay him in the wake of Chris Paul’s departure that much easier to justify.
Granted, they don’t really need to justify it. Griffin is a max player, because the market demands he be a max player.
It doesn’t matter that he’s missed 83 games through each of the last three regular seasons, or that each of his past two playoff crusades have ended prematurely as well. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the 15 or 20 best players in the game. There would have been another half-dozen or more teams prepared to throw max money his way in free agency this summer. None of them would have been offering a fifth year, because they couldn’t. That was the Clippers’ trump card, and they elected to play it because they want to remain relevant in the wild, wild Western Conference.
Of all the moves they’ve made this summer, many of them, like Danilo Gallinari’s contract, very questionable, this isn’t one to harp on—especially now, when it seems like Griffin will be ready to rock as soon as the Clippers re-open their doors.
