Michael Dwyer / Associated Press
The Blake Griffin era in Detroit seems to be over.
Both Griffin and the team announced on Monday that the veteran striker would be kept out of lineup going forward, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that “the Pistons will continue to pursue commercial scenarios involving Griffin and talking about a contract purchase with his agent Sam Goldfeder from Excel Sports may eventually come into focus. “
Pistons general manager Troy Weaver told Woj:
“After an extensive conversation with Blake’s representatives, it was determined that we will start working to facilitate a resolution regarding his future with the team that maximizes the interests of both parties. We respect all efforts that Blake made in Detroit and in his career and will work to achieve a positive outcome for all involved. “
Griffin added in a statement: “I am grateful to Pistons for understanding what I want to accomplish in my career and for working together on the best path forward.”
Negotiating with the 31-year-old will be difficult. Generally, when aging stars – or ex-stars, depending on whether you think Griffin’s fights this year are tough or his new normal – have huge contracts like Griffin, the teams that try to trade them are able to make two types of moves :
- Exchange it for another player with an equally large and prohibitive contract. Think of the Russell Westbrook-for-John Wall exchange.
- Distribute it to a team with salary cap space to absorb the player’s big contract. Generally, you also part with some assets like young players or draft choices in such an arrangement.
Both scenarios will be difficult for the pistons to operate. The first is complicated for two reasons. First, Griffin is really fighting this year, averaging just 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 36.5% of the field. He was not much better last year, scoring 15.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 35.2 percent of the field.
It is difficult to market Griffin like a star right now. A series of injuries simply turned him into a shell of himself, which included five All-Star games in his first six seasons. Maybe a new environment will take more advantage of it, but the Pistons are not going to make a big return for it based on their game.
It becomes even more difficult to negotiate with him when you take into account his $ 36.5 million contract for this season or the $ 38.9 million player option for the next year that he will absolutely exercise. Even if you could find one suitable player per player in a trade, let’s say the San Antonio Spurs wanted to get rid of the fighter LaMarcus Aldridge (14.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 47.6 FG percentage) and were willing to play the data on Griffin, hoping he could work his way closer to his previous form – matching the money would be tricky.
Aldridge, for example, is earning $ 24 million this season. San Antonio would have to put another player in the business to make the money work. But most teams are likely to see Griffin as a negative asset, given the relationship between contract and production you’re getting.
Westbrook, for example, averaged 27.2 points a season ago. The biggest concern for Wall, 30, was that he was returning from a season lost to injury and could have missed part of his outburst. He was still playing at a high level before this injury.
But the Pistons are unlikely to be interested in giving up assets to get out of Griffin’s contract. They are in a reconstruction. They would probably prefer to be the team taking assets in exchange for using the maximum space to absorb bad contracts in the short term.
Given the decline of Griffin’s game and the huge contract, the Pistons’ task is tantamount to trying to fireroton torpedoes in an exhaust port. First year general manager, Troy Weaver, is going to need some serious Jedi mental tricks on this one, especially considering that the takeover route is not ideal unless Griffin is willing to cut a big chunk of his salary.
It seems unlikely that Griffin wants to throw away that much money. It also seems unlikely that the Pistons would want to dispose of so much money without getting anything in return. And if nothing else, the imminent possibility of a purchase lessens Detroit’s influence in trade negotiations. If Griffin could become a free agent in the procurement market, why not wait?
It is a difficult situation for the Pistons and Griffin, but now they are committed to finding out after Monday’s news.