Blake Griffin has signed with the Brooklyn Nets for the remainder of the 2020-21 NBA season, the team announced on Monday. Griffin, who authorized the exemptions after a purchase with the Detroit Pistons, will be runner-up with the Nets, according to Atlético’s Shams Charania. Griffin, who had been with the Pistons since a 2018 deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, agreed to the purchase with Detroit on Friday, in which he returned more than $ 13 million to secure his free agency. Now, he has chosen to reunite with Nets, his close friend and former Clippers companion, DeAndre Jordan.
Upon entering Brooklyn, Griffin gave himself his best chance of winning the championship that eluded him in Los Angeles. When he was a Clipper, the chicken was a superstar. Now, he will be an actor supporting the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving as the Nets fight for their first NBA title. Griffin has struggled so far this season due to years of injury, but his talent and pedigree make it worth the risk for Brooklyn.
Griffin was not particularly effective in Detroit this season. He averaged 12.2 points at 36.5 percent shooting from the field and 31.5 percent behind the hoop. More than half of his shots were 3 points this season, as his declining athleticism prevented him from reaching the basket at his normal pace. He has not yet dived this season, the clearest possible memory of the injuries that plagued him for most of his career. He also fought hard in defense, thanks to that loss in athletics.
But Griffin was an NBA player recently, in the 2018-19 season. He remains a skilled passer, and if his body still has something in the tank, maybe playing with three other stars and a center he knows very well from Los Angeles will help bring that athletics back.
“We are fortunate to be able to add a player of Blake’s caliber to our squad at this point in the season,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in a statement. “Blake is a versatile player on the front lines with a long history of success in our league and we are excited about the impact he will have for us, both on and off the court in Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn’s whole approach to building the squad this season was to bet on talent. They switched to James Harden knowing that it would damage their defense, assuming that having so much offensive talent would make these failures irrelevant. They used minimal signings on formerly paid players in the hopes of resurrecting their careers as Jeff Green, Tyler Johnson and Andre Roberson. Griffin’s addition fits that plan for a tee. It is a low-risk, high-reward hiring from a team specializing in such moves under the guidance of Sean Marks.