LOS ANGELES – The L.A. Clippers lost one All-Star guard in Chris Paul this offseason, but were able to retain All-Star forward Blake Griffin as the team made moves surrounding him. With Paul gone, Griffin is the clear-cut leader of this Clippers team that features nine new players on the roster, all of whom will likely get a crack at a rotational spot this season.

Being the leader of the team, however, isn't something that's spoken of inside the locker room, nor does Griffin care for it. After signing a new five-year, $173 million deal, Griffin said having the big title of leader of Clippers is the least of his concerns.

“That's never really been a concern of mine. My biggest concern was being prepared every summer going into the season in shape, being on the same page with my teammates, and trying to help us win games. Being a leader for us.”

As one of the longest tenured Clippers players in franchise history, Griffin will now have a much bigger role in leading this team night-in and night-out as well as creating offense for a team that relied heavily on Chris Paul to do so. Griffin already knows he has to be a leader. If it isn't already evident on the court, he's easily the highest paid player on the team and will be the fifth highest paid player in the NBA next season behind Warriors' guard Stephen Curry, Cavaliers' forward LeBron James, Nuggets' forward Paul Millsap, and Celtics' forward Gordon Hayward.

“I think that's something that you hear on the outside, but on the team, I don't think I've ever heard a guy say, ‘Hey man, uhh… Whose team do you think this is?' It's just not how it is. So if it's not like that on the inside, then why are so people so focused on it on the outside. That's my opinion. And we're not, so I'm looking forward to this next challenge with this new team.”

Clippers' owner Steve Ballmer, who is committed to winning an NBA Championship more than anything, also chimed in on Griffin being the face of the franchise now that Paul has been traded away.

“Somebody asked Blake the other day about being the face of the franchise and I loved his answer,” laughed Ballmer. “He said, ‘We don't sit around in the locker room talking about who's the face of the franchise. We have been very fortunate to have three All-Star caliber players on our team. Chris has moved on, but the face of the franchise… Heck I hope we have a lot of faces that our fans can fall in love with.”

Griffin participated in 61 games last season, averaging 21.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game last season.