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Liking a Tweet about returning to the Clippers next season, Blake sparked some speculation that a homecoming with his former team could actually be in the cards. When he reached a buyout with the Detroit Pistons, the Clippers were listed as one of the teams with interest; however, later reports indicated that Blake to Brooklyn was always the plan. Now an unrestricted free agent once again, could Blake actually return to the franchise he became such an icon with?

From strictly a basketball standpoint, there is reason to believe the Clippers may lose backup center Isaiah Hartenstein this summer. Having outperformed his contract, the big man could likely command a greater salary and role than what the Clippers can offer him. If Hartenstein were to walk, Blake could provide additional front-court depth.

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With the way the end of the regular season unfolded for Blake, it seemed very unlikely that he would see much playoff action. Unsurprisingly, Blake was not called upon for any minutes in the first two games of the postseason. This was against the wishes of many fans, who had grown frustrated with the play of Andre Drummond, who was essentially unplayable against a versatile Celtics team. With Drummond's poor play finally becoming egregious to the point where even Steve Nash took notice, Blake's number was finally called at the end of Game 3.

Coming off the bench and drilling consecutive threes in his first minutes of the series, Blake Griffin immediately gave the Nets a spark. From DNPs to closing playoff games, Blake saw crucial minutes once again in Game 4. Doing what he does best at this point in his career, taking charges, recovering loose balls, and battling on the glass, Blake was a team-best +10 in his 17 Game 4 minutes; however, it was too little too late.

og15 wrote:Brooklyn doesn't even play him

MartinToVaught wrote:

og15 wrote:Brooklyn doesn't even play him

Because Nash is an idiot. Not because he can't play anymore. In the rare moments this postseason when Nash remembered Blake was on the team, he brought instant energy as soon as he checked in. He was the only bright spot for the Nets in these playoffs.

TrueLAfan wrote:With Blake, I think it's about health more than anything. If he's feeling good (i.e. knees aren't killing him), he can give you 10-15 mpg--sometimes 20--on a semi-regular basis. 7 or 8 games out of 10 will be pretty good to very good. There will be a couple of games where things are acting up and he'll be a total non-factor. And he should probably take 15-20% of games off. The Nets tried to push him at the beginning of this year, and start him and play him 20+ mpg and it was ... not good.

But as a vet minimum guy that we could reasonably hope for 700 to 900 effective minutes out of? I'd say yeah, and I'm not a huge Blake guy. He'd help as a 12th man.

og15 wrote:

MartinToVaught wrote:

og15 wrote:Brooklyn doesn't even play him

Because Nash is an idiot. Not because he can't play anymore. In the rare moments this postseason when Nash remembered Blake was on the team, he brought instant energy as soon as he checked in. He was the only bright spot for the Nets in these playoffs.

It wasn't random that he got out of the rotation. He started his first 17 games of the season playing 22 mpg but shot 32% FG and 16% 3PT, so I get why he fell out of favor with Nash. Energy or not, you have to make shots to stay on the court, there's no player that can shoot like that and keep getting minutes, so I get it, even though I don't have any faith in Nash as a coach.

He was better off the bench though, 3 was still off, but shot much better overall.

The whole Brooklyn team was in shambles for sure. Blake played a total of 24-25 minutes in the playoffs, he did bring energy though, but of course that was mainly a one game sample, so who knows how consistent that could have been, and again over large samples, you can't survive the lack of shot making.

I don't know why he chose to join the frat boy club in Brooklyn, thought he was getting a good deal I suppose, decent role and get a championship. The fit is just no longer good with Brooklyn, he needs to go somewhere else, like I said, they don't even play him. I don't know how good his consistency can be, but he can definitely do more than what he did with them. He will have to shoot better though.

Roscoe Sheed wrote:

og15 wrote:

MartinToVaught wrote:Because Nash is an idiot. Not because he can't play anymore. In the rare moments this postseason when Nash remembered Blake was on the team, he brought instant energy as soon as he checked in. He was the only bright spot for the Nets in these playoffs.

It wasn't random that he got out of the rotation. He started his first 17 games of the season playing 22 mpg but shot 32% FG and 16% 3PT, so I get why he fell out of favor with Nash. Energy or not, you have to make shots to stay on the court, there's no player that can shoot like that and keep getting minutes, so I get it, even though I don't have any faith in Nash as a coach.

He was better off the bench though, 3 was still off, but shot much better overall.

The whole Brooklyn team was in shambles for sure. Blake played a total of 24-25 minutes in the playoffs, he did bring energy though, but of course that was mainly a one game sample, so who knows how consistent that could have been, and again over large samples, you can't survive the lack of shot making.

I don't know why he chose to join the frat boy club in Brooklyn, thought he was getting a good deal I suppose, decent role and get a championship. The fit is just no longer good with Brooklyn, he needs to go somewhere else, like I said, they don't even play him. I don't know how good his consistency can be, but he can definitely do more than what he did with them. He will have to shoot better though.

that's what is weird from my view- I can understand his athleticism declining with age and injury, but not his shot- I wonder why that suddenly plummeted after years of improvement

Quake Griffin wrote:I am not interested in watching Blake play for the minimum and come off the bench for us.

I’d like to remember him as a starter and contributor to some non-contender, poorly coached teams.

Clemenza wrote:A small ball center in case Hartenstein leaves? Bring the GOAT Clipper back to where it all started at!!

Quake Griffin wrote:I am not interested in watching Blake play for the minimum and come off the bench for us.

I’d like to remember him as a starter and contributor to some non-contender, poorly coached teams.

TrueLAfan wrote:Blake. Or Boogie.

Boogie's been pretty outspoken;y surprised that he hasn't been given a vet min deal. We had Boogie and he played pretty well for us. Should we look at him?

I say no. (Which surprises me.) Boogie can still score more than Blake. He's a better shooter--maybe. (I don't think Blake was just cold at the start of the year; I think he was hurt.) And Boogie is a better rebounder. That sounds like a lot.

But Boogie is less of a passer; Blake still moves the ball around well on the perimeter. The shooting difference isn't huge; not is the rebounding. The fouling and D is. Blake doesn't have anything like the lateral quicks he had even five years ago, much less when he was young. But he's a smart player, and he's gotten good at sliding over on help D. He drew plenty of charges this year. Boogie is big, but he reaches and fouls and guys go around him. Blake works better in a system than Boogie does, even now.

For me, it's all about the health and conditioning. If Blake's knees are okay and he can get enough push to keep his shot mechanics good, he would actually be a pretty valuable player for us. He'd be a better 2Pat; a #12 guy that, if people went down, could start a few games in a pinch, and retained enough skills to make other teams care when he was on the court for 10-15 minutes in other games.