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The way the LA Clippers handled the situation with Blake Griffin from the summer of 2017 through the early months of the 2017-18 NBA campaign was puzzling, to say the least.
That offseason, the Clippers had signed Blake Griffin to a massive five-year, $173 million extension, a deal that many saw as an overpay. However, the idea was that Griffin would be the face of the franchise forever — a theme that intrigued Los Angeles.
After all, for a team that has not had many great players in its history, the thought of having a life-long star naturally seemed enticing.
However, the Clippers ultimately traded Griffin to the Detroit Pistons in January 2018, essentially ending Griffin's new contract in Los Angeles before it even started.
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So, just what were the Clippers thinking when they first re-signed Blake? Apparently, they wanted to a build around a core of Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Danilo Gallinari, according to Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“Part of their pitch to Griffin in free agency had been that they would remain competitive around him. That likely meant re-signing Jordan during the 2018 offseason and tying themselves to a Griffin-Jordan-Gallinari nucleus for at least two more seasons. The Clippers worried that it lowered their long-term ceiling, especially in an increasingly perimeter-oriented league, and would only delay the roster teardown they would eventually endure.”
Remember: by that point, Chris Paul had already been traded to the Houston Rockets, so the Clippers no longer had the trio of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Paul. But rolling with Danilo Gallinari to replace CP3? Gallinari is a nice player and all, but building a core with him as one of your top three pieces is not very wise.
Obviously, the Clippers realized this as well, which was why they traded Griffin and then ultimately let Jordan walk via free agency this past summer, opting to open up cap space to try and land a big name during the summer of 2019.
