Subscribe
Follow Us
Monday's blockbuster trade between the L.A. Clippers and the Detroit Pistons was proof of just how many assets it takes to acquire a cornerstone player and the very few teams that are able to pull off a trade of that magnitude. Among the teams with enough cap space to absorb the giant $141 million remaining in Blake Griffin's contract were their in-home neighbors, the Los Angeles Lakers, who had the chance to bid for his services, but didn't, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe.
“The half-dozen or so worst teams are so far away from contention that flipping their best picks and young players for an almost 29-year-old doesn't make any sense. The Lakers loom as a possible exception, only because they have clear and immediate free agency ambitions. We all know they need cap space to sign two max-level free agents, and Griffin would obviously cannibalize that. But there has long been another avenue: Get one star in the door now, and use him as bait for the second.
The Lakers even have Brook Lopez's $22 million expiring contract to help match salaries. But they don't appear to have taken a serious look at Griffin, per league sources. Maybe it wouldn't have been workable; the Lakers already traded their 2018 first-round pick.”
The Lakers had committed to making a bid for LeBron James this upcoming offseason and taking a risk at acquiring Griffin puts them a step away from their prized target. In hindsight, Griffin doesn't make for a good frontcourt partnership with James, besides his passing, as the big man has proven to be an atrocious shooter from distance, even when tripling the number of 3-point attempts of any year of his career.
Griffin is shooting only 34 percent from downtown in 5.7 attempts per game — a huge reason why his shooting percentage sits at a career-low 44 percent despite his physical gifts.
