After 8 and ½ years as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin has been officially traded to the Detroit Pistons.
The deal was Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, Tobias Harris, two 1st round picks, and one 2nd round pick to the Clippers for Blake Griffin, Willie Reed, and Brice Johnson.
For the Pistons:
I think the Pistons did this deal mainly so that they wouldn’t have to pay Avery Bradley a large contract next summer. Also, as Stan Van Gundy said, being able to obtain a superstar is very rare for a small market team like the Detroit Pistons. I think that the reason the Pistons traded for Blake Griffin was not because they thought would become serious contenders, but because it is yet another way for the team to make some more money. Griffin is an electrifying player who will definitely cause more tickets and jerseys to be sold. At this point, I think the Pistons have realized that there is no chance that they will win a championship anytime soon. I think they are trying to just make the playoffs and sell tickets. This trade will create an exciting frontcourt of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond, but that’s all that is coming out of it for the Pistons. Detroit also received Willie Reed and Brice Johnson. Reed is a great backup center who will just replace Boban Marjanovic who was traded to the Clippers. Brice Johnson, well, um, he averages 1.8 ppg….
For the Clippers:
The Clippers definitely won this trade in my opinion. They got rid of the insanely large contract of Blake Griffin.They would be paying Blake $173 million over the next 5 years and $39 million at age 31 if they didn’t get rid of him. In this trade, the Clippers got two nice young pieces in Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris. In any other season, Tobias would have won Most Improved Player, but Victor Oladipo decided to score 24ppg. Tobias is averaging just under 20 points this season and will do great things for the future. But, Avery Bradley is a wildcard. When he is at his best, he is one of the best 3-and-D players in the entire NBA. But this season in Detroit, he looked disengaged and he didn’t look like he was trying hard. Also, this offseason the will demand a large contract which the Clippers will probably only give him if he plays like he did for the Celtics. Los Angeles also received two first round picks and one second round pick which they can send with DeAndre Jordan in a future trade.The Clippers are slowly but surely falling into a rebuild mode. They will just have to trade DeAndre Jordan and maybe even Lou Williams. Jordan will definitely leave this offseason if he doesn’t get traded. Remember a couple of years ago when he agreed to sign with the Mavericks but his Clippers’ teammates locked him in his own house?
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