The Los Angeles Clippers are not planning a teardown after trading Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets—at least not one that doesn’t include Blake Griffin.
With free agency right around the corner, the Clippers have an early meeting set with their All-Star forward’s agent, and their top priority remains keeping him, according to the Southern California New Group’s Bill Oram:
Clippers plan to informally meet with Blake Griffin's agent before start of free agency tomorrow. He remains their top priority.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) June 30, 2017
Pulling out all the stops for Griffin was never once a given. He’s 28 years old and has missed more than 80 games over the past three seasons. Rebuilding around him is risky.
But the Clippers don’t have a viable alternative, other than bottoming out. And they may not want to bottom out. Or maybe they just want to hit reset, perhaps eventually parting ways with DeAndre Jordan, while still keeping someone who plays like a top-15 to top-20 player when he’s healthy.
Either way, the Clippers’ best hope at locking down Griffin quickly is slinging the five-year max worth more than $172 million. A four-year deal doesn’t show the same kind of faith, and he could get almost as much over that same span if he signs somewhere else—more, technically, if he joins a team like the Miami Heat that plays in a no-income tax state.
