Jordan Conn, Grantland (11/1/13)
So, Granger’s thinking goes, now he can step easily into becoming just another very good player on a team full of very good players. And let’s not forget: When Granger last played a full season in 2011-12, he was arguably the best among Indiana’s crop of borderline All-Stars. He led the team with 19 points per game and was better than the league’s average in virtually every manner of scoring — from spot-ups to post-ups to coming off screens to isos. Now, Granger feels like his role has been boiled down to its essential element: “I’m a shooter,” he says. “That’s where it starts.” And in 2011-12, he did that better than almost anyone in the league, scoring off catch-and-shoot situations more efficiently than any high-volume shooter not named Kevin Durant or Klay Thompson.
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Says an Eastern Conference scout: “We know he and George can play together. That’s not an issue at all.” Adds George: “When Danny’s out there, it frees everybody up. The whole court is just bigger. I have more room, George [Hill] has more room — everybody.”
All this talk of readjusting assumes one thing: Someday — possibly soon — Granger will be healthy. He insists that his knee feels good, that he’s back to his old self. Yet his health issues stem from tendinosis — a degenerative condition that can be managed but that tends to linger. When asked what to expect from Granger, the scout is noncommittal. “You’re asking me to give an opinion on a guy who no one has really seen in, what, almost two years?” he says, though at this point, it has only been about 17 months. “He could be an All-Star again,” the scout says. “He could be done. I end up sticking my foot in my mouth, whatever I say.” But if Granger is healthy, the scout sees him readjusting with no problem. “When they got David West they took on this physical identity,” he says, “and Granger can fit with that. He doesn’t change their identity at all.”
The X-Files: Danny Granger
Eric Patten, Clippers.com (2/28/14)
“I definitely have gotten healthy,” Granger said. “Now it was just a matter of getting my game back and getting my feel and I was on track. I’m still feeling good. So, I still feel like I have a lot to offer and I like the way I’m going.”
Granger has never been a high percentage shooter, but he’s also never played with a cast of offensive players around him like he will have with the Clippers. He’s a 38.2 percent shooter from 3-point range in his career, a number that has dipped since his knee troubles began.
But even still he is 12-for28 (42.9 percent) from the left and right corners, a spot he will likely receive plenty of open looks in the Clippers’ high-octane offense. It also helps that he has played up-tempo before, in 2009-10, when he averaged 24.1 points and attempted a career-high 7.1 3-poitners [sic] a game.
Granger on Clippers: ‘It’s Going to Be a Change, But I’ll Be Happy’
Arash Markazi, ESPN Los Angeles (3/2/14)
Rivers hopes Granger, who was an All-Star in 2009, can at some point this season work his way into being the team’s starting small forward to allow Matt Barnes to go back to his more natural role of coming off the bench. Barnes was thrust into the starting lineup after the consistent struggles of Jared Dudley, who is experiencing the worst shooting season of his career.
“He hasn’t played a lot over the last couple of years, but I thought before the trade he was starting to round into shape and starting to make shots,” Rivers said of Granger. “What I see in him is length. He’s a long small forward who has the ability to add a different dimension to us. The way I look at it is we can have a post game at the 3 spot as well now, which would be nice for us. If [sic] gives us another dimension.
"He can stretch the floor, and he comes from a defensive organization that runs a lot of the stuff that we run, so I thought defensively he would be the easier fit of the guys that were out there. He’s still coming back from the injury, so he still needs more time and minutes, and we’re trying to do that.”
Granger should help bolster thin front line
