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Heading into the offseason, one of the bigger stories in free agency will be the fate of Blake Griffin, who is expected to decline the player option in the final year of his deal worth $21.3 million.
There are already plenty of rumors swirling around what Griffin could do once he hits the open market. During a recent interview with ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz on The Basketball Analogy podcast, veteran forward Jared Dudley stated that he believes the All-Star forward could take his talents to South Beach as a member of the Miami Heat. (h/t Simon Smith of All U Can Heat)
“He could go to Miami, can be the man….and you’ve got no state (income) tax…but that five-year max contract, you’re going to lose about roughly $30 million.”
“My whole thing is – where do you want to live. He lives in LA which he loves, Miami is a good place. Miami is understandable – Pat Riley, they would make the playoffs with him, so that’s the only one I could somewhat see. You’re not going to Dallas… you’re not going to Houston. New York Knicks, you’re not going there.”
The 28-year-old will hit free agency as one of the top free agents with plenty of different options at his disposal aside from the Los Angeles Clippers. Despite dealing with injuries, Griffin averaged 21.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists in 34.0 minutes per game this past season. He is in the prime of his career with many more highly productive seasons ahead of him that would certainly make a long-term deal worthwhile.
However, there are legitimate concerns about his long-term health as he has missed 83 games over the last three seasons. Griffin may be a talented player, but his well-documented injury past could play a factor in the size of contracts he receives from other teams aside from the Clippers.
As for Los Angeles, they are expected to make a serious run at Griffin in hopes of keeping their core group together with Chris Paul also set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer. The franchise may have struggled to break through in the playoffs with their current roster, but they have at the very least become a perennial playoff team.
All in all, Griffin's decision in free agency could go a long ways in shaping the Clippers' long-term future.
