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After working a buyout with the Pistons Friday, Blake Griffin appears headed to Brooklyn, according to various reports on Twitter.
The Brooklyn Nets are believed to be leaders to sign six-time All-Star Blake Griffin, sources tell me and @JLEdwardsIII. Rival teams with interest are expecting Griffin to choose Nets as a title favorite for chance to win a championship.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 5, 2021
The Nets are regarded as a strong contender for Blake Griffin given Brooklyn's rise and his longstanding relationship with players there and the Celtics have also expressed interest, league sources say.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 5, 2021
Adrian Wojnarowski, who broke the buyout news, also reported that the Nets were among the leaders for the six-time All-Star’s services.
The Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat and Portland Trail Blazers are expected to be among the teams Griffin will be considering for his next stop, sources tell ESPN.
Griffin, 31, is expected to make a decision on his next team after conversations with prospective teams, sources said.
The Pistons and Griffin announced the buyout and waiver just before close of business Friday, Shams Charania tweeted that Griffin gave up a substantial amount to gain his freedom ... and reiterated his belief that Brooklyn is his next stop.
Sources: Blake Griffin gave back $13.3 million in his buyout with the Pistons. He had $75M on his deal for this season and 2021-22. The six-time All-Star will clear waivers on Sunday and the Brooklyn Nets are the leaders to sign him.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 5, 2021
Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times wrote early Saturday that while the Lakers are interested in Griffin —and he could help them— the Nets are in the lead.
The point is probably moot — sources have confirmed that Brooklyn appears to be the leader to gain Griffin’s employment.
Griffin will now become an unrestricted free agent Sunday afternoon, As of Saturday, the Nets have one open roster spot. Tyler Cook’s 10-day contract expired Friday. On Sunday, the Nets’ two other 10-day contracts — Andre Roberson and Iman Shumpert — will expire. The Nets can renew any of the three 10-day players for a second 10-day but it would make no sense to start the extension during the All-Star Break. Also, Sunday is the guarantee date for two-way Chris Chiozza, giving them another potential opening.
Griffin has several connections to the Nets. He is close to DeAndre Jordan, with whom he played eight years as part of the Clippers‘ “Lob City.” He also worked out with the Nets “Big Three” in Los Angeles last summer and played two years in Detroit with Bruce Brown.
Griffin will receive approximately $63 million (no stretch). Should he require more than a vets minimum deal to sign, the Nets have the taxpayers MLE (as long as Joe Tsai is willing to pay more in luxury tax.) Yossi Gozlan, Hoopshype’s capologist did the math...
If the Nets need to use an exception to sign Griffin, it makes sense to use their MLE on him since they could use the DPE to acquire an expiring contract in a trade later.
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) March 5, 2021
Assuming he gets waived today, Griffin will clear waivers on Sunday. Nets MLE will be worth $5.36M then. https://t.co/gROgtmVqF7
None of the other competitors for Griffin can offer more than the veterans minimum.
Griffin, of course, has lost more than a bit of his once staggering athleticism to injury. Over the past several years, he’s had issues with both knees, his back, his right big toe, his right ankle over the years, with the most recent event, arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April 2019, leading to a big drop-off.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN wrote this following news of the impending buyout...
As has been much noted, Griffin has yet to successfully dunk this season. Per analysis of data from Basketball-Reference.com, Griffin is the only player taller than 6-foot-7 to attempt more than 150 shots this season without a single dunk.
But he has other skills. On January 28, he scored 23 points, shot 5-of-10 from deep and handed out six assists in an upset of the Lakers. No dunks, but some nice moves and neat passes.
He played only 20 games this season before the Pistons shut him down on February 15. He was averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists.
Last season, when he was limited to 18 games, Griffin averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 boards and 3.3 assists. Here’s video all his field goals from 2019-20.
Two years ago, when he was last healthy, Griffin averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 boards and 5.4 assists while shooting 36.2 percent from deep. Like Harden, Durant and Irving, Griffin made the All-NBA team.
An executive for an Eastern Conference playoff team told HoopsHype’s Mike Scotto last month that he sees Griffin in a back-up role. “He could provide a spark off of the bench. If he’s healthy, he could start if the team had a need, but he’s probably more of a rotation player right now.”
Frank Urbina, also of Hoopshype, offered this assessment of how Griffin could help the Nets, even based on his performance this year.
Taking a look at Synergy Sports, we can see Griffin is still an ‘excellent’ point producer as a pick-and-roll ball-handler and a ‘very good’ scorer in transition and as the roll man in pick-and-roll sets. That type of versatile scoring is hard to find, particularly players who can produce as both the creator and finisher in all-important pick-and-roll sets, so crucial in the modern NBA...
Griffin’s most effective play type this season by far has been as the pick-and-roll ball-handler, unique for a traditional power forward.
Out of those sets, Griffin has posted 38 possessions and produced 43 points, good for a 1.132 point-per-possession (PPP) mark, which places him in the 93rd percentile league-wide, per Synergy, in what’s considered the ‘excellent’ range.
Similarly, Zach Lowe on a recent episode of his “Lowe Post” podcast suggested that Griffin, with his BBIQ, post and passing skills, could fit as a back-up 5 in Brooklyn.
- Sources: Detroit Pistons, Blake Griffin agree to contract buyout - Adrian Wojnarowski - ESPN
- What adding Blake Griffin would mean for an NBA title contender - Kevin Pelton - ESPN+
- Nets leaders for Blake Griffin after Pistons agree to buy out forward: Sources - The Athletic
- Blake Griffin released by Pistons with Nets favored to sign him - Peter Botte - New York Post
- Nets ‘believed to be leaders’ to sign Blake Griffin: report - Danny Abriano - SNY
- How Blake Griffin can still help contenders - Frank Urbina - Hoopshype
- Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons agree to buyout - Noah Trister - AP
- Lob City 2.0? NBA fans are excited at possibility of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan reuniting with Nets - Charles Curtis - USA Today
- Blake Griffin a good fit for the Lakers? Breaking down what he could bring - Dan Woike - Los Angeles Times
- Is the Best Fit for This Version of Blake Griffin in Brooklyn? - Dan Devine - The Ringer NBA
- Report: Blake Griffin Agrees to Contract Buyout With Pistons - Wilton Jackson - Sports Illustrated
- Report: Blake Griffin expected to sign with Nets - Dan Feldman - NBC Sports
- Blake Griffin agrees to contract buyout with Pistons; Nets are favorites to sign him, per report - Michael Kaskey-Blomain - CBS Sports
- Report: Blake Griffin agrees to buyout with Pistons, becomes unrestricted free agent - Cassandra Negley - Yahoo! Sports
- Nets favorites to sign Blake Griffin after buyout from Pistons? - Erin Walsh - Yardbarker
- Report: The Nets Are The Frontrunners To Sign Blake Griffin When He Clears Waivers - Brandon Kleen - Dime Magazine
- ‘I wish the franchise success’: Pistons buy out Blake Griffin’s contract; he becomes free agent - Rod Beard - Detroit News
- Blake Griffin and Detroit Pistons agree to buyout, making him a free agent - Omari Sankofa II - Detroit Free Press
- Detroit Pistons fans lament the Blake Griffin era: ‘Good job SVG’ - Tyler J. Davis - Detroit Free Press