The team announced Monday that Blake Griffin has signed with the Brooklyn Nets for the remainder of the NBA 2020-21 season. Griffin, who cleared waivers after a buyout at the Detroit Pistons, will carry No. 2 with the Nets, according to Shams Charania from The Athletic. Griffin, who has been with the Pistons from the Los Angeles Clippers since the 2018 trade, agreed on Friday to the buyout with Detroit, in which he returned 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.
By joining Brooklyn, Griffin gave himself the best chance to win the championship that eluded him in Los Angeles. When he was a Clipper, he 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.
“We are fortunate to be able to add a player of Blake’s caliber to our roster at this stage of the season,” Nets general manager Sets Marks said in a statement. “Blake is a versatile forward with a long history of success in our league, and we’m excited about the impact he’s going to have on us on and off the field in Brooklyn.”
Brooklyn’s entire approach to building rosters 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.