After working on a purchase with Pistons on Friday, Blake Griffin appears to be heading to Brooklyn, according to several reports on Twitter.
The Brooklyn Nets are believed to be the leaders to hire All-Star Blake Griffin six times, sources said. @JLEdwardsIII. Interesting rival teams hope that Griffin will pick the Nets as a favorite for the chance to win a championship.
– Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 5, 2021
The Nets are considered a strong candidate for Blake Griffin due to the rise of Brooklyn and their longstanding relationship with players there and the Celtics have also expressed interest, say league sources.
– Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 5, 2021
Adrian Wojnarowski, who released the purchase story, also reported that the Nets were among the leaders of the six-time All-Star service.
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 told ESPN.
Griffin, 31, is expected to make a decision about his next team after conversations with potential teams, the sources said.
Assuming the purchase and waiver take place on Friday, Griffin would be an unrestricted free agent on Sunday, the NBA All-Star game day … and at the end of Andre Roberson’s three 10-day Nets contracts held by Tyler Cook and Iman Shumpert.
Griffin is close to DeAndre Jordan, with whom he played for eight years as part of the Clippers “Lob City”. He also worked with the Nets “Big Three” in Los Angeles last summer and played two years in Detroit with Bruce Brown.
Griffin owed $ 76 million this year and next. No word on how much Griffin will receive, but if he requires more than a minimum contract with veterinarians to sign, the Nets have the taxpayers’ MLE (as long as Joe Tsai is willing to pay more in luxury taxes). The math…
If the Nets need to use an exception to sign Griffin, it makes sense to use his MLE on him, as they could use DPE to purchase a contract that is expiring in a negotiation later.
Assuming he is released today, Griffin will make up for the layoffs on Sunday. The Nets MLE will then be worth $ 5.36 million. https://t.co/gROgtmVqF7
– Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) March 5, 2021
Griffin, of course, has lost more than a little of his impressive track and field due to an injury. In recent years, he has had problems with both knees, big toe and right ankle, with the most recent event, an arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April 2019, which led to a big fall.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote the following news about the impending purchase …
As has been noted, Griffin has not yet successfully buried this season. Per Basketball-Reference.com data analysis, Griffin is the only player over six feet tall to attempt more than 150 shots this season without a single dunk.
Last season, when he was limited to 18 games, Griffin averaged 15.5 points, 4.7 bags and 3.3 assists. Here is the video all your 2019-20 field goals.
This season, he played just 20 games before the Pistons closed it last month. He averaged 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists. Two years ago, when Griffin was healthy for the last time, he averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 hitting and 5.4 assists, shooting 36.2 percent deep.
“If Blake were bought, there would be significant interest, but how much of the economy is Blake willing to accept?” The Eastern Conference playoff team executive told Mike Scotto of HoopsHype last month. “It could provide a spark outside the bank. If he is healthy, he could start if the team was in need, but he is probably a rotating player now. “
Likewise, Zach Lowe in a recent episode of his podcast “Lowe Post” suggested that Griffin, with his BBIQ, posting and approval, could fit as a back-up 5.