bwgood77 wrote:Whatever team signs him should look to James Harden’s career for inspiration: Make Griffin the full-time point guard and let him play with the ball in his hands the entire game. Positional designations have become increasingly meaningless in recent years, but who brings the ball up the floor and initiates the offense still matters. Harden isn’t the only nontraditional point guard who has thrived as his team’s lead ball handler. After starting his career as a small forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo became one of the best players in the NBA when the Bucks gave him full control of the offense. Harden and Giannis don’t need anyone else setting them up. They are at their best when they are creators rather than finishers; the threat of their offense opens up the game for everyone else.
Blake is one of the best passers, 6-foot-9 or taller, in NBA history. He is one of six current players his height to have a season with an assist rate higher than 25 percent, and one of only 13 players to ever do it. There have just not been many basketball players with his combination of size, speed, and ballhandling and passing ability before, and the best way to utilize him is to have him be the player throwing alley-oops, not catching them. Not only would using Blake as a point guard make him a better player, it would give his team more flexibility when it comes to the types of lineups he could be used in and the players he could be put around.
One possible solution would be to play him as a small-ball 5, à la Draymond Green, but his below-average wingspan (6-foot-11) puts a clear ceiling on his ability to protect the rim, and even with his incredible leaping ability, he has never averaged a block a game. Using Griffin as a point forward would allow his team to forgo a traditional point guard, creating room in the lineup for another multipositional defender who could stretch the defense as a spot-up shooter, while still keeping a rim-protecting 5 on the floor next to him.
https://theringer.com/2017-nba-free-agency-blake-griffin-point-guard-eeae6cd3b18d
If we sign him HE should be our point, and we need to have a rim protector next to him. We also need floor spreaders. It's too bad we don't have more good shooters or a solid rim protector outside of Len, but Griffin would be best with the ball in his hands.
Blake with multiple secondary playmakers will be so dope. Damn.
