buzzkilloton wrote:thesack12 wrote:buzzkilloton wrote:
All the media reports were that we were bidding vs ourselves. It wasnt a situation where the clippers were getting multiple offers and trying to use diff teams against each other to leverage bidding.
SVG was just in a rush to land Blake to try to make the playoffs and save his job. As you stated he made them a offer they couldnt refuse. They heard T.Harris/Bradley+a 1st round pick and went "Well no way we get better then that accept right now thats a deal" The trade was similar to his free agent moves where he rushed in guns blazing and went "thats my guy forget the price I gotta get him now!"
What media reports?
The Blake trade came completely out of the blue. Hell, even Blake himself said he was shocked and knew nothing about it prior. If Clippers were actively shopping Blake, I would think they would have made him aware of such things.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22258759/zach-lowe-blake-griffin-trade-future-la-clippers-detroit-pistons"
There just wasn't a lot of demand for Griffin, according to sources around the league. Some good teams with big dreams were turned off by his contract. Most good teams are already too expensive to absorb it without sending out their best or second-best players.
The half-dozen or so worst teams are so far away from contention that flipping their best picks and young players for an almost 29-year-old doesn't make any sense. The Lakers loom as a possible exception, only because they have clear and immediate free agency ambitions. We all know they need cap space to sign two max-level free agents, and Griffin would obviously cannibalize that. But there has long been another avenue: Get one star in the door now, and use him as bait for the second.
It took a franchise like Detroit: middling, desperate to win, desperate for relevance, content with being a pretty good playoff team as long as Griffin and Drummond stay together."
Not going to go search all the stuff I read about this trade at the time but it was talked about multiple times that there wasnt a market. If there was a market you would of seen them holding on until the deadline and trying to get a better deal.
From the same article.
Blake Griffin is an exquisitely skilled player in his prime. When you read that the LA Clippers traded him for (mainly) a lightly protected first-round pick and a younger power forward they might have some interest in re-signing in July 2019, your reaction was probably: That's it? That's all they get for Blake freaking Griffin?
But right now, this is probably the very best deal the Clippers could have gotten for Griffin
For the Clippers, it's tempting to compare this deal to the trades for Paul George and Jimmy Butler over the summer. The Bulls got more for Butler, and that was clear at the time, before Kris Dunn blossomed and Lauri Markkanen started cramming all over fools. The Pacers probably got more for George on an expiring contract, though no one -- not even the Pacers -- knew it then. Butler and George are barely younger than Griffin, who turns 29 in March. So the Clippers sold low on Griffin, right?
Not really. That contract is locked in. A lot of Griffin's injuries have been flukes, but flukes add up as a player ages. Recurring knee issues preceded some of those flukes. Griffin's athleticism has already declined some.
Griffin is a power forward who can't protect the rim, and only began really shooting 3s this season. Without that 3-pointer, he's an antique in the modern NBA -- a casualty of math. George and Butler are multi-positional wings who can shoot, pass and defend at a high level. They are the modern NBA.
The "right now" quote is especially interesting to me. To me that says they were very eager to shed Blake and kickstart their rebuild. Once they started making/taking calls it was in their best interest to move quickly on a deal. If not, word would have gotten out, and Blake would not have been happy and only bad things come from that.
Also, those last 2 paragraphs haven't aged well at all. Its definitely more valuable to have stars locked into long term contracts, than being on shorter term deals. Player movement and leverage is at an all time high. The culture of the NBA has changed.
Blake has absolutely transformed his game from being athleticism based to being skill based. He's also added a very solid 3 ball to his regular repertoire.