Blake Griffin has turned down the waiver and will now join the Brooklyn Nets for the remainder of the 2020-21 NBA season. His agent, Sam Goldfeder, confirmed the news to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski Sunday night. Griffin, who has been with the Detroit Pistons since trading in 2018, agreed on Friday to a buyout with the team in which he will return more than $ 13 million to secure his free agency. Now he has chosen to reunite with his good friend and former Clippers teammate DeAndre Jordan with the Nets.
And in doing so, he gave himself the best chance of winning the championship that eluded him in Los Angeles. When he was a Clipper, Griffin was a superstar. Now he will be a role player supporting the trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving as the Nets pursue their first NBA title. Griffin has struggled so far this season due to years of injuries, but his talent and pedigree make him well worth the risk for Brooklyn.
Griffin has not been particularly effective for Detroit this season. He averaged 12.2 points on 36.5 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from behind the arc. More than half of his shots were 3 points this season as his declining athletic ability prevented him from getting to the basket at his normal rate. He has yet to plunge this season, the strongest possible reminder of the injuries that have plagued him for most of his career. He also struggled on defense thanks to the loss of athletics.
But Griffin has been an All-NBA player as recently as the 2018-19 season. He remains a deft passer, and if his body has anything left in the tank, he might play with three other superstars and a center he knows well from Los Angeles will help bring that athleticism out again.
Brooklyn’s entire approach to grid building this season has been to bet on talent. They swapped James Harden in the knowledge that it would harm their defense on the assumption that the fact that so much offensive talent would make the flaws irrelevant. They have used minimum signatures with former high-paying beginners in hopes of reviving their careers like Jeff Green, Tyler Johnson and Andre Roberson. The addition of Griffin fits that plan with a tea. It’s a low-risk, high-reward signing from a team that specialized in such moves under Sean Marks.