USA TODAY International Edition
Griffin injury muddles future
The NBA playoffs are being ruined by injuries.
First, Utah big man Rudy Gobert went down with a left knee injury that has kept him out of the Jazz’s first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. Then the Chicago Bulls announced that point guard Rajon Rondo had a thumb injury that would put a halt to his renaissance story against the Boston Celtics.
But the worst one yet came on Saturday morning, when the Clippers announced forward Blake Griffin is out for the postseason with an injury to the plantar plate of his right big toe. The five- time All- Star suffered the injury in Friday night’s game against the Jazz that gave the Clippers a 2- 1 series lead.
And just like that, with the Clippers already facing so much scrutiny because Griffin, point guard Chris Paul and shooting guard J. J. Redick are set to be free agents this summer, their hopes of shocking the basketball world by winning a title with this core are dashed. Again. It was a year ago that Griffin and Paul both suffered seasonending injuries four games into a first- round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers. Then and now, the Clippers had a wave of momentum, only to see it come to a stunning end.
The Clippers had survived significant regular- season injuries to Griffin ( right knee surgery, 18 games) and Paul ( thumb injury, five weeks) to win 11 of their last 13 regular season- games and finish fourth in the Western Conference. It was enough to leave Clippers coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers feeling that maybe this was their year. What’s more, it was enough to remind him why he didn’t have any desire to break up this talented bunch.
“Let’s say we don’t win this year — which I think we will, ( but) let’s say we don’t,” Rivers, whose team has the NBA’s thirdbest regular season winning percentage, told USA TODAY Sports heading into the playoffs. “Do you give up on a 50- win team that has proven that they’re really close ( to winning it all), or do you hang in there and keep trying to maybe make changes around ( the core)?
“I always use Utah as a great ( example). Thank God Karl Malone and ( John) Stockton didn’t listen to people, you know what I mean? They fell ( in the playoffs) and kept trying and kept trying. And finally, late in their careers, they finally broke through to the Finals. They didn’t win it ( all). But you know, that’s the pursuit. I just think it’s so easy to ( say), ‘ Hey, they should break up,’ from the outside. And I think that’s such an easy opinion.”
Nonetheless, the possibility remains that Griffin has played his last game for the Clippers.
While Rivers made his stance known when it comes to the looming free agency for Griffin, Paul and Redick, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is the one who would have to cut the enormous check to bring them all back. Based on projections that are known to be in line with the Clippers’ analysis, the payroll would be approximately $ 196 million if they re- signed the three free agents and added five players on minimum salary contracts to fill out the roster ($ 56 million of which would come from the luxury tax). In that scenario, Paul and Griffin would both get the maximum- salary deals that they’re expected to receive, and Redick’s deal would start at approximately $ 18 million annually.
Only Ballmer knows if it’s a price he’s willing to play.
Even if the Clippers survive against Utah, the prospect of them beating the Golden State Warriors in the second round without Griffin is dim ( assuming the Warriors, up 2- 0, finish the job against Portland). Add in that these Clippers have not reached the conference finals since they acquired Paul in 2011, and Ballmer’s vision might be entirely different from that of Rivers.
Griffin, who averaged 21.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 61 games this season, is a tremendous talent when healthy. But the injury history, and the possible impact it might have on how the Clippers see his future, is impossible to ignore.
Last season, he suffered a quadriceps injury that cost him significant time early on, then made matters worse by breaking his hand in a dinner- in- Toronto fight with the then- assistant equipment manager of the team. In all, Griffin played just 35 regular- season games and returned in time for the playoffs.
Fair or not, these are the sort of developments that sometimes change the course of a player’s career. Yet those are questions that will be answered when free agency arrives in July.
For now, the Clippers and every other team that has taken an unforeseen hit on the health front will simply try to forge on with a little less.