The Boston Celtics have emerged as the primary threat to sign L.A. Clippers power forward Blake Griffin, as he is expected to opt out of the last year of his deal and become a free agent this offseason, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
“Boston is really the danger for Blake Griffin,” said Wojnarowski during his podcast with colleague Bobby Marks. “I think Boston's two primary free agent targets, right now, are Gordon Hayward and Blake Griffin. Now they're not going to get both of them, but they're both players that would potentially have interest there. I think Boston looks at in different ways with their future.”
Griffin has also been said to be impressed by the way fans at the TD Garden embraced icon Paul Pierce during his final visit as a member of the Clippers.
The 28-year-old has had another consistent season, averaging 21.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while making a major improvement from the free-throw line, shooting a career-high 76 percent.
Griffin has already engrained his game as a perimeter threat, taking his game to the mid-range on a consistent basis, unlike the rim abuser he once was during his first years in the league. Matter of fact, he's taken that range to the three-point line even more this past season, taking nearly as many threes (113) as he has during the last five years of his career (115).
The Clippers are still the major favorites to bring him back, as both sides have expressed mutual interest and expect a deal to go rather smoothly, per last month's reports.
L.A. can offer him as much as a five-year, $175 million deal, while other teams like Boston can only muster $130 million for a four-year contract.
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