A year later, did Clippers make mistake trading Griffin?
Thirteen months ago, the Los Angeles Clippers famously traded Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons. It was a stunning move, coming six months after Griffin signed a supermax contract with LA; franchise leaders had sold Griffin on being a “Clipper for life.”
The Clippers had salvaged the departure of Chris Paul by sending CP3 to Houston in a sign-and-trade. That rebuilt the Clippers with an interesting roster, led by Griffin, with center DeAndre Jordan still Griffin's sidekick. The Clippers were 25-24, hanging tough in ninth place in the Western Conference, when they traded Griffin.
The Clippers sent Griffin, Brice Johnson and Willie Reed to the Pistons for Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, a first-round draft pick and a 2019 second-round pick.
It was a blockbuster deal. Trading a superstar early in his contract is not common. The Pistons were desperate for a superstar. They figured the former Sooner star was a perfect fit, that he could team with center Andre Drummond in Detroit the way he teamed with Jordan in Tinseltown.
LA stayed competitive and finished 42-40, a few games out of the playoffs. Detroit was 22-26 when the trade was made; the Pistons were 17-17 with Griffin, but their 39-43 record was not enough to lift Detroit into the playoffs. The Pistons placed ninth.
Griffin remains a Piston, and Detroit has crawled its way into the playoff picture. The Pistons entered Wednesday 26-29 but in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, the Clippers have played competitively and were 30-25 last week when they repeated their stunner of January 2018 with another blockbuster deal.
The Clippers sent Harris, Marjanovic and Mike Scott to Philadelphia for Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, Landry Shamet, a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick, a 2021 second-round and a 2023 second-round pick. The trade gave the Clippers a treasure chest of draft picks and gave the 76ers a loaded lineup, with Harris joining a starting unit that already included Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick and Jimmy Butler.
And the two trades show that the trades have many tentacles. How did the Griffin trade turn out for the Clippers and Pistons? Way too early to tell. That trade is a living organism, still being played out. Let's review.
The Clippers 13th months ago had Griffin, Brice Johnson and Willie Reed. Here's what that trio has brought the Clippers as of today:
• JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple, late of Memphis, who were acquired in a trade last week for Bradley. Green and Temple will be free agents this summer and could be free agents even sooner, if they agree to contract buyouts.
• Chandler, who will be a free agent this summer.
• Center Ivica Zubac, who was acquired from the Lakers for Muscala. Michael Beasley came over from the Lakers, too, but was immediately released.
• Rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, acquired in a draftnight trade for firstround pick Miles Bridges and two second-round picks.
• Shamet, a rookie guard from Wichita State.
• Two first-round picks, 2020 and 2021.
• Two second-round picks, 2021 and 2023.
Considering the Clippers knew they were mostly punting on last season and absolutely are punting on this season, the short-term players (Harris and his Pistons teammates, plus the recently-acquired Grizzlies) are mostly irrelevant.
The Clippers basically traded Griffin, a superstar, for three young players and two firstround draft picks.
The young players are intriguing. Gilgeous-Alexander is considered a really promising point guard. Zubac is a 21-year-old, 7-foot-1 center who has averaged 8.5 points a game this season. Shamet is a 21-year-old rookie who has made 41 percent of his 3-pointers this season.
Not bad. But only Gilgeous-Alexander whets your whistle.
So it comes down to Gilgeous-Alexander and those first-round picks, both of which are lottery-protected.
First-round picks are valuable. But first-round picks outside the lottery are not game-changers.
The Clippers traded Griffin to get out of his contract. They signed Griffin in summer 2017, when the wounds of Paul's departure were fresh, then came to regret that money commitment a few months later.
Now they've gotten themselves out of that commitment, have some first-round picks to either use or trade, and have payroll room to pursue other free agents, be they Kawhi Leonard or Anthony Davis. Both are more valuable superstars than was Griffin.
But Griffin was a bird in the hand. If the Clippers strike out in free agency — or even a possible trade for the likes of Davis — they flittered away at least two seasons and came out no better for it.