Michael Dwyer / Associated Press
The Blake Griffin era in Detroit turns out to be.
Both Griffin and the team announced Monday that the veteran forward will be kept out of the team going forward, with Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN, reporting that “the Pistons will continue to pursue trade scenarios in which Griffin is involved, and talk about ‘ a contract purchase with his agent Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports may finally come into focus. ‘
Pistons general manager Troy Weaver told Woj:
“After an extensive discussion with Blake’s representatives, it has been determined that we will begin to facilitate a resolution on his future with the team that maximizes the interests of both parties. We respect all of Blake’s efforts in Detroit and his career and will work to achieve a positive outcome for all involved. ‘
Griffin added in a statement: “I’m grateful to the Pistons for understanding what I want to achieve in my career and for working together on the best path forward.”
The dissertation of the 31-year-old will be difficult. Usually, if aging stars – or former stars, depending on whether you think Griffin’s fight this year is a rough patch or his new normal – big contracts like Griffin’s, teams trying to handle it can make two kinds of moves:
- Spend it for another player with an equal size and ban contract. Think of the Russell Westbrook-for-John Wall exchange.
- Give him to a team with a salary cap for the player’s big contract. Generally, you also share such an agreement with some assets, such as young players or drafts.
Both scenarios will be difficult for the Pistons to work. The former is troublesome for two reasons. One, Griffin is really struggling this year, averaging just 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 36.5 percent off the field. He was not much better last year, posting 15.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting an abysmal 35.2 percent from the field.
It’s hard to market Griffin as a star at this point. A series of injuries have simply turned him into a cover of his previous self, which includes five All-Star Game appearances in his first six seasons. Maybe a new environment gets more out of him, but the Pistons are not going to get a big return for him based on his game.
It gets even harder to deal with when he considers his $ 36.5 million contract for this season or the $ 38.9 million player option for next year. Even if you can find a player-for-player player who is fit in a trade – let’s say the San Antonio Spurs wanted the struggling LaMarcus Aldridge (14.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 47.6 FG percentage) moved and was willing to throw the dice at Griffin, hoping he could work closer to his previous form – it would be difficult to match the money.
Aldridge, for example, is earning $ 24 million this season. San Antonio will have to throw another player in the case to make the money work. But most teams probably view Griffin as a negative asset, given the ratio of contract to production you get.
Westbrook, for example, averaged 27.2 points a season ago. The biggest concern with the 30-year-old Wall was that he is returning from a season lost due to injury and that he may have lost some of his bursts. He played at a high level even before the injury.
But the Pistons are also unlikely to be interested in giving up assets to get away from Griffin’s contract. They are in a rebuild. If anything, they would probably prefer the team to get assets in exchange for using cap space to take on bad contracts in the short term.
Given Griffin’s declining play and big contract, the Pistons’ task is tantamount to trying to proton torpedoes in an exhaust port. First-year general manager Troy Weaver will need serious Jedi tricks on this, especially since the buyout route is not ideal unless Griffin is willing to reduce a large portion of his salary.
Griffin seems unlikely to want to throw away that much money. It seems just as unlikely that the Pistons want to do away with so much money without getting something back. And if nothing else, the looming possibility of a buyout reduces Detroit’s leverage in trade talks. If Griffin might just become a free agent in the buyout market, why not wait?
It’s a tough situation for the Pistons and Griffin, but they are now committed to finding out after Monday’s news.