[WOJ] Pistons and Blake Griffin agree to buyout *UPDATE 3/7 Agrees to Deal with Brooklyn...

[blueNorange]

Definitely not under any delusion the nets added an all star here but they did add a player who fills one of their needs for basically nothing. It's a high reward/low risk move.

the nets improved their interior defense by getting one of the worst interior defenders in the league?

[Invictus88]

Everyone talking about how Blake isn’t the player he used to be blah blah blah. Who cares? He doesn’t have to be. On the nets he just has to be solid for like 15 mins a game. For the vets min deal who cares if he’s not the slam dunk champion blake. In Detroit he was supposed to be the star player making 35 mill a year. That’s high expectations. On the nets he just has to play solid. If he gets 10 ppg and 7 rpg in 15 -20 mpg and plays well then he’ll be a great addition

it's not that he's worse than he was in his prime, it's that he's straight up bad.

10/7 in 15 minutes? he's averaging 5 points/15 minutes right now on less that 50% true shooting, which is shockingly bad. he hasn't dunked the ball in a year and a half. more than half his shots are threes and he's shooting 31% on them. calling him washed is an understatement, he's on his way out of the league.

You think a former six time all star big man is going to look great on a bad team like Chris Paul consistently? I guess Westbrook must be soon out of the league too.

Seems like he played his way into a buyout situation by looking awful. Sounds familiar. I think his name rhymes with pardon.

He’s coming off the bench and he isn’t asked to win games anymore. Who cares?

It’s just simply beautiful to see a guy like Blake with his kind of career achievements, sacrifice 13 million to win a championship with us. That says alot about what we’ve built as an organization and fan base in a short amount of time.

So you clearly haven't watched Blake play in the last 1.5 seasons. His struggles weren't due to lack of effort. He wasn't sulking or sandbagging. What you saw was 18 months of a man attempting to continue doing what his body let him do easily before his legs completely let him down.

I'm not talking about high flyng dunks here. I'm talking about having any effectiveness at all backing down opponents of equal height and being able to finish with a basket. I'm talking about having minimal leg lift to avoid the endless litany of jump shots hitting the front of the rim. I'm talking about it reaching the point of opponents early in the shot clock abandoning him behind the arc. With 7 seconds left he'd either pass the ball out to a covered teammate or turn the ball over. He literally could not create his own shot and couldn't make what he was given. And let's not even go into defense.

Do me a favor and go to the Pistons board and search the threads or game logs for any sign that effort was ever a concern with Blake Griffin. There's zilch. We loved him because he gave everything he had. But it was clear at the end that we were a better team when he wasn't on the floor. And we're 10-26.

[flow]

Did he sign their 5.7m DPE or MLE? Or is it a 1-year vet min?

If it's vet min, then they can only really win from this

Woj says vet min in this ESPN article.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31024080/blake-griffin-agrees-deal-brooklyn-nets

I think some people were assuming he definitely had an MLE/DPE deal lined up based on the 13.3 million he gave up in his buyout, but now it's clear to everyone that he just hates playing in Detroit.

Or that he's about to retire, already has more money than god, and wants one last shot at a ring.

.

[leolozon]

Did he sign their 5.7m DPE or MLE? Or is it a 1-year vet min?

If it's vet min, then they can only really win from this

Woj says vet min in this ESPN article.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/31024080/blake-griffin-agrees-deal-brooklyn-nets

I think some people were assuming he definitely had an MLE/DPE deal lined up based on the 13.3 million he gave up in his buyout, but now it's clear to everyone that he just hates playing in Detroit.

Or that he's about to retire, already has more money than god, and wants one last shot at a ring.

.

What's the vet min 2.5m? So he'll give up 8 millions over 2 years. Well worth it to be more happy at your job, when you have earned over 300m in your career when including everything.

[Lockdown504090]

injury insurance and having him not go to a competitior. Solid move for both parties, blake can rehab with no expectations of playing much. I could see him having a richard jefferson like impact in the playoffs because of how rested he was.

[MindState]

AD hasnt been healthy all year.
LeBron isnt neutralizing anyone.

Lebron is so good at neutralizing KD that KD won 2 Finals MVPS against him.

In still skeptical with KD defense coming off Achilles injury. He’s always been gifted offensively player. That’s not where you worry about KD. It’s his movement defensively.

KD length bothered lebron in 2017 and 2018 finals. We seen the games. But it’s not golden state stopped lebron. The warriors Curry Thompson were just better then Kyrie (2017) and love and supporting cast.

So you are skeptical of KD, who when hes played this year has looked better then ever, but you arent skeptical of AD, who has not been healthy all year, and when he has played, has not looked good?

AD is a bigger question mark then KD.

[Sharcm1]

it's not that he's worse than he was in his prime, it's that he's straight up bad.

10/7 in 15 minutes? he's averaging 5 points/15 minutes right now on less that 50% true shooting, which is shockingly bad. he hasn't dunked the ball in a year and a half. more than half his shots are threes and he's shooting 31% on them. calling him washed is an understatement, he's on his way out of the league.

You think a former six time all star big man is going to look great on a bad team like Chris Paul consistently? I guess Westbrook must be soon out of the league too.

Seems like he played his way into a buyout situation by looking awful. Sounds familiar. I think his name rhymes with pardon.

He’s coming off the bench and he isn’t asked to win games anymore. Who cares?

It’s just simply beautiful to see a guy like Blake with his kind of career achievements, sacrifice 13 million to win a championship with us. That says alot about what we’ve built as an organization and fan base in a short amount of time.

So you clearly haven't watched Blake play in the last 1.5 seasons. His struggles weren't due to lack of effort. He wasn't sulking or sandbagging. What you saw was 18 months of a man attempting to continue doing what his body let him do easily before his legs completely let him down.

I'm not talking about high flyng dunks here. I'm talking about having any effectiveness at all backing down opponents of equal height and being able to finish with a basket. I'm talking about having minimal leg lift to avoid the endless litany of jump shots hitting the front of the rim. I'm talking about it reaching the point of opponents early in the shot clock abandoning him behind the arc. With 7 seconds left he'd either pass the ball out to a covered teammate or turn the ball over. He literally could not create his own shot and couldn't make what he was given. And let's not even go into defense.

Do me a favor and go to the Pistons board and search the threads or game logs for any sign that effort was ever a concern with Blake Griffin. There's zilch. We loved him because he gave everything he had. But it was clear at the end that we were a better team when he wasn't on the floor. And we're 10-26.

I guess we will find out if he still can play or not. The key is he will just have to play solid to be a very good player for the nets. If you think he can’t do that well we will have to wait and see. His shooting doesn’t worry me. Most of the threes he will take will be wide open and set up by harden, Durant or Irving. All of the attention is on those three guys. Why do you think the nets are playing so well. The whole team is contributing because the game is now much easier for them. Harris said Harden was the best passer he has played with in his career. And Harris is shooting lights out, he was always a great shooter but I’m now surprised when the guy misses. Even shamet has come along and he was shooting like crap at the beginning. Bruce brown is scoring a lot now because all he has to do is move without the ball and he gets easy layups, dunks or two foot shots and most are wide open. I think Blake will be just fine.

[Pantsman]

injury insurance and having him not go to a competitior. Solid move for both parties, blake can rehab with no expectations of playing much. I could see him having a richard jefferson like impact in the playoffs because of how rested he was.

Cavs RJ was a very smart defender that could switch 2-4 and could still find ways to sneak the baseline and get some dunks. Blake is a terrible defender now with no lateral ability, can’t shoot, can’t dunk. He’s basically Dallas amare.

[dennythedino]

it's not that he's worse than he was in his prime, it's that he's straight up bad.

10/7 in 15 minutes? he's averaging 5 points/15 minutes right now on less that 50% true shooting, which is shockingly bad. he hasn't dunked the ball in a year and a half. more than half his shots are threes and he's shooting 31% on them. calling him washed is an understatement, he's on his way out of the league.

You think a former six time all star big man is going to look great on a bad team like Chris Paul consistently? I guess Westbrook must be soon out of the league too.

Seems like he played his way into a buyout situation by looking awful. Sounds familiar. I think his name rhymes with pardon.

He’s coming off the bench and he isn’t asked to win games anymore. Who cares?

It’s just simply beautiful to see a guy like Blake with his kind of career achievements, sacrifice 13 million to win a championship with us. That says alot about what we’ve built as an organization and fan base in a short amount of time.

So you clearly haven't watched Blake play in the last 1.5 seasons. His struggles weren't due to lack of effort. He wasn't sulking or sandbagging. What you saw was 18 months of a man attempting to continue doing what his body let him do easily before his legs completely let him down.

I'm not talking about high flyng dunks here. I'm talking about having any effectiveness at all backing down opponents of equal height and being able to finish with a basket. I'm talking about having minimal leg lift to avoid the endless litany of jump shots hitting the front of the rim. I'm talking about it reaching the point of opponents early in the shot clock abandoning him behind the arc. With 7 seconds left he'd either pass the ball out to a covered teammate or turn the ball over. He literally could not create his own shot and couldn't make what he was given. And let's not even go into defense.

Do me a favor and go to the Pistons board and search the threads or game logs for any sign that effort was ever a concern with Blake Griffin. There's zilch. We loved him because he gave everything he had. But it was clear at the end that we were a better team when he wasn't on the floor. And we're 10-26.

Yeah, I imagine Detroit was playing him to up his trade value but it obviously didn't work out.

[SF_Warriors]

it's not that he's worse than he was in his prime, it's that he's straight up bad.

10/7 in 15 minutes? he's averaging 5 points/15 minutes right now on less that 50% true shooting, which is shockingly bad. he hasn't dunked the ball in a year and a half. more than half his shots are threes and he's shooting 31% on them. calling him washed is an understatement, he's on his way out of the league.

You think a former six time all star big man is going to look great on a bad team like Chris Paul consistently? I guess Westbrook must be soon out of the league too.

Seems like he played his way into a buyout situation by looking awful. Sounds familiar. I think his name rhymes with pardon.

He’s coming off the bench and he isn’t asked to win games anymore. Who cares?

It’s just simply beautiful to see a guy like Blake with his kind of career achievements, sacrifice 13 million to win a championship with us. That says alot about what we’ve built as an organization and fan base in a short amount of time.

he's been this bad for two years. you think a guy who refused to come out of the game on an injured knee down 0-3 to the bucks has been tanking his performance in every game since to force a buyout? his knees are shot and his game is predicated on athleticism, that's it. to compare this to harden is completely ridiculous.

the nets are my favorite to win it all and i also think it's cool blake is taking a paycut to go there. my favorite team in the east. but i don't see blake as a major contributor, i really don't think this signing moves the needle.

Blake only played 18 games last season, and has clearly been mailing it in this year. I wouldnt be surprised if he plays like a decent role player for the nets. The guy is still under 32 years old at this point in time and led the pistons to the playoffs just 38 games played ago for him.

[Invictus88]

You think a former six time all star big man is going to look great on a bad team like Chris Paul consistently? I guess Westbrook must be soon out of the league too.

Seems like he played his way into a buyout situation by looking awful. Sounds familiar. I think his name rhymes with pardon.

He’s coming off the bench and he isn’t asked to win games anymore. Who cares?

It’s just simply beautiful to see a guy like Blake with his kind of career achievements, sacrifice 13 million to win a championship with us. That says alot about what we’ve built as an organization and fan base in a short amount of time.

So you clearly haven't watched Blake play in the last 1.5 seasons. His struggles weren't due to lack of effort. He wasn't sulking or sandbagging. What you saw was 18 months of a man attempting to continue doing what his body let him do easily before his legs completely let him down.

I'm not talking about high flyng dunks here. I'm talking about having any effectiveness at all backing down opponents of equal height and being able to finish with a basket. I'm talking about having minimal leg lift to avoid the endless litany of jump shots hitting the front of the rim. I'm talking about it reaching the point of opponents early in the shot clock abandoning him behind the arc. With 7 seconds left he'd either pass the ball out to a covered teammate or turn the ball over. He literally could not create his own shot and couldn't make what he was given. And let's not even go into defense.

Do me a favor and go to the Pistons board and search the threads or game logs for any sign that effort was ever a concern with Blake Griffin. There's zilch. We loved him because he gave everything he had. But it was clear at the end that we were a better team when he wasn't on the floor. And we're 10-26.

I guess we will find out if he still can play or not. The key is he will just have to play solid to be a very good player for the nets. If you think he can’t do that well we will have to wait and see. His shooting doesn’t worry me. Most of the threes he will take will be wide open and set up by harden, Durant or Irving. All of the attention is on those three guys. Why do you think the nets are playing so well. The whole team is contributing because the game is now much easier for them. Harris said Harden was the best passer he has played with in his career. And Harris is shooting lights out, he was always a great shooter but I’m now surprised when the guy misses. Even shamet has come along and he was shooting like crap at the beginning. Bruce brown is scoring a lot now because all he has to do is move without the ball and he gets easy layups, dunks or two foot shots and most are wide open. I think Blake will be just fine.

Most of the 3s he was taking for the Pistons were wide open as well. Almost all of the outside shots. Because the other team was sinking off of him and positioning to collect rebounds.

If you are saying that Blake will have an easier time making layups due to better spacing, well then so would any average player at Blake's position (which Blake was playing worse than by a wide margin). Don't get me wrong. If he signs for the league minimum then sure, no harm in trying to catch lightning in a bottle. But confidently saying statements like "I think Blake will be just fine" just because he is now on the Nets aren't at all a given. Evidence speaks quite the contrary in fact.

[Invictus88]

You think a former six time all star big man is going to look great on a bad team like Chris Paul consistently? I guess Westbrook must be soon out of the league too.

Seems like he played his way into a buyout situation by looking awful. Sounds familiar. I think his name rhymes with pardon.

He’s coming off the bench and he isn’t asked to win games anymore. Who cares?

It’s just simply beautiful to see a guy like Blake with his kind of career achievements, sacrifice 13 million to win a championship with us. That says alot about what we’ve built as an organization and fan base in a short amount of time.

he's been this bad for two years. you think a guy who refused to come out of the game on an injured knee down 0-3 to the bucks has been tanking his performance in every game since to force a buyout? his knees are shot and his game is predicated on athleticism, that's it. to compare this to harden is completely ridiculous.

the nets are my favorite to win it all and i also think it's cool blake is taking a paycut to go there. my favorite team in the east. but i don't see blake as a major contributor, i really don't think this signing moves the needle.

Blake only played 18 games last season, and has clearly been mailing it in this year. I wouldnt be surprised if he plays like a decent role player for the nets. The guy is still under 32 years old at this point in time and led the pistons to the playoffs just 38 games played ago for him.

You clearly didn't read the prior guy's post at all. I mean like at all. Mailing it in just wasn't something that Blake was doing. It was pretty sad and painful to watch to be honest.

[Lockdown504090]

injury insurance and having him not go to a competitior. Solid move for both parties, blake can rehab with no expectations of playing much. I could see him having a richard jefferson like impact in the playoffs because of how rested he was.

Cavs RJ was a very smart defender that could switch 2-4 and could still find ways to sneak the baseline and get some dunks. Blake is a terrible defender now with no lateral ability, can’t shoot, can’t dunk. He’s basically Dallas amare.

didnt blake just shoot 36 percent on 7 attempts without an elite playmaker like 2 years ago? hes going to play a role i havent seen him in, so although everything you are saying is correct based on his last two years... before that good year jefferson had in utah I thought he was done too. blakes a great passer, has good strength on weaker forwards, ball handling, used to be able to shoot. if jeff green goes down, that whole 5 out thing they run goes down the toilet, so it might be good to have someone in case.

[picc]

Timeline of Blake in Brooklyn:

Post AS break:

- Integrated into lineup with spot minutes, makes good reads off PnR passes screening for or by the big 3, finds open shooters/lobs to DJ and Claxton as the ballhandler and is able to shoot uncontested in space as the roll man

- Looks good versus weak teams and plays to all strengths, creating unremarkable but surprising statlines in assists and fg%. Some realgm'ers declare him "back", while others cautiously and appropriately wait to see how he looks versus better teams in deeper competition

First round of playoffs:

- Minutes reduced, produces at acceptable level in spot minutes against weak competition and sees usage rate skyrocket during garbage time of a non-competitive first round seres, with plenty of back downs and scores/assists against 2nd and 3rd units

Second round of playoffs and beyond:

- Garbage time minutes only as better coached teams with better rosters play him out of the rotation with switch-hunting and his defensive liabilities become greater than even the compulsion to give a respected vet playoff minutes

Finals:

- Serves solely as locker room and sideline coach and cheerleader, gets on the court in last few garbage time minutes of Brooklyn's clinching game and hits a three, then expends each and every last iota of his knee's energy for a windmill alleyoop dunk that ends his career on both a high and low note

Post-finals:

- Sprays a ridiculous amount of champagne in the locker room, some directly into teammates eyes, and is seen hopping gingerly on his one good remaining knee and screaming in happiness as the team celebreates

[cjx]

Blake is pulling a Harden, folks. When he joins the Nets, the hops and athletic ability will return. Harden dropped the "fat suit", Blake will drop the "physical decline suit". Durant needs to load up for Jokic and the Nuggets! LOL!!

CJ my man! Hope all is well with you!

Thank you, my friend!

[dc]

injury insurance and having him not go to a competitior. Solid move for both parties, blake can rehab with no expectations of playing much. I could see him having a richard jefferson like impact in the playoffs because of how rested he was.

You're pretty much going to have to assume that he's been doggin' in the entire season and that he just didn't see the point of trying very hard with the Pistons if you're hoping he has any kind of impact. Because if he was trying, even a little bit, then that's not a good sign. Then he's just physically done. Doesn't matter rested he is. The fact that this guy was one of game's most prolific dunkers and isn't all that old but now hasn't dunked since 2019 probably points to him being physically broken down.

Sucks for the Pistons that they gave up a pick for this guy, took on his contract and now have to deal with a massive deadweight on their cap for 1.5 years. What sucks most is that the bought out contract can't be moved. It's literally deadweight and isn't allowed to be traded.

[picc]

The issue is, he's totally and entirely unecessary to the Nets. What he offers, they don't need. And what they need, he doensn't offer.

The Nets do not need any offense. Blake may hit a three or find an open shooter every now and then, but the massive likelihood is that Brooklyn would score on those possessions anyway, via their best three players or the wide open role players who find themselves in pristine scoring position every play. This turns their offense from 1000 to 1001. Remember that old Eddie Murphy bit? "Now we have three million and TEN dollars!"

And yet, all this would still be gravy... if he didn't actively take away from the one part of the game they DO need help in. Their defense is already below average, with competent defensive players in the frontcourt. Blake is a porous defender with zero lateral mobility at this point, and zero rim protection. He will add a minimal amount of unnecessary value on offense, while providing a clear and present weak link in their already compromised defense. A small drop of water in the bucket, and a large cup of water taken out.

To add to that, any minutes he takes from Claxton, Green, or DJ, who are all much less exploitable defenders with an equal amount of FUNCTIONAL offensive value, are minutes the Nets will be losing when they don't have to.

It's not a bad move. But it is a pointless one. Nash should not strip any minutes from the centers whatsoever, and share Blake's minutes with Greens. Move Green to the 3 a little more.

At best, Blake will help them win regular season games that they would have won anyway, before seeing his minutes vanish in the later rounds of the playoffs.

At worst, he'll be given more meaningful minutes out of respect, damaging the defense and contributing points on offense that would have been scored anyway.

If he doesn't show far better health and mobility than he has this season and last, I dont see this as low risk high reward. The risk and reward are around equal. The lone universal positive is that he'll probably be a good locker room presence.

[poultryfan]

The issue is, he's totally and entirely unecessary to the Nets. What he offers, they don't need. And what they need, he doensn't offer.

The Nets do not need any offense. Blake may hit a three or find an open shooter every now and then, but the massive likelihood is that Brooklyn would score on those possessions anyway, via their best three players or the wide open role players who find themselves in pristine scoring position every play. This turns their offense from 1000 to 1001. Remember that old Eddie Murphy bit? "Now we have three million and TEN dollars!"

And yet, all this would still be gravy... if he didn't actively take away from the one part of the game they DO need help in. Their defense is already below average, with competent defensive players in the frontcourt. Blake is a porous defender with zero lateral mobility at this point, and zero rim protection. He will add a minimal amount of unnecessary value on offense, while providing a clear and present weak link in their already compromised defense. A small drop of water in the bucket, and a large cup of water taken out.

To add to that, any minutes he takes from Claxton, Green, or DJ, who are all much less exploitable defenders with an equal amount of FUNCTIONAL offensive value, are minutes the Nets will be losing when they don't have to.

It's not a bad move. But it is a pointless one. Nash should not strip any minutes from the centers whatsoever, and share Blake's minutes with Greens. Move Green to the 3 a little more.

At best, Blake will help them win regular season games that they would have won anyway, before seeing his minutes vanish in the later rounds of the playoffs.

At worst, he'll be given more meaningful minutes out of respect, damaging the defense and contributing points on offense that would have been scored anyway.

If he doesn't show far better health and mobility than he has this season and last, I dont see this as low risk high reward. The risk and reward are around equal. The lone universal positive is that he'll probably be a good locker room presence.

ie. I'm angry Blake didn't sign with the Lakers.

[picc]

ie. I'm angry Blake didn't sign with the Lakers.

Even for realgm couch psychoanalysis, this is lazy.

[poultryfan]

ie. I'm angry Blake didn't sign with the Lakers.

Even for realgm couch psychoanalysis, this is lazy.

Hey I'm not the guy that posted two consecutive walls of text trashing the signing as mostly inconsequential and low reward. For some reason I doubt you'd be singing the same tune had the Lakers nabbed Blake.