For a large chunk of last season, mostly when he was injured, Blake Griffin was reportedly on the trade block. Well, it was never confirmed by head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers or the LA Clippers, but the trade rumors were out there and were sparked by Griffin's off-court incident with a team equipment manager that had let down fans, teammates, the coaching staff, essentially the whole organization.
Despite coach Rivers denying them all at one point, there were still rumors about Griffin being traded for Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, then-Oklahoma City Thunder Star Kevin Durant, and even the Boston Celtics inquiring about a Griffin trade.
According to ESPN's Chris Forsberg, however, all of those had no truth to them. Rivers spoke with Forsberg about a number of topics, including the Griffin trade rumors, which Rivers strongly denied once again.
We knew none of it was true. We figured that was one of you guys starting these rumors here in Boston. I was trying to find out who it was … No, it happens, unfortunately. Blake and CP are free agents [after this season]. Just like last year Oklahoma [City] had to deal with that, now it's our turn.”
Griffin did have one incredibly tough season for the Clippers, and played just 35 games for the Clippers after playing in 375 out of last 394 games over five years.
When asked about his summer break for this offseason,Griffin said he didn't take much time off:
“I actually just got back from vacation, so I took a week off there, so basically two weeks (off) this whole summer. I kind of had in my mind, I’m just going to go all the way through. In my mind, I didn’t deserve a summer break.”
Griffin averaged 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 0.8 steals in those 35 games last year, and will be entering a big redemption season as the Clippers try to end their second-round curse while Griffin tries to prove that he can remain on the court and lead the Clippers to a deep postseason run.
Follow Us
Subscribe