we should pursue blake griffin in 2017 free agency

Somebody out there would take him. Detroit?

his value isn't that high tho...I wish he was making Eric Gordon money instead of almost 20 mil/yr, he's just not worth that much money

 

I like Otto, but he might require a max. I don't think he's what we need in order to get to the next level. We need a wing that can score 20+ ppg and add some legit playmaking. Otto is a low usage spot up shooter.

 

I just dont like Blake Griffin's face. His face makes me angry. Same thing with Tom Thib's voice during games when he is constantly yelling.

 

One premise volunteered in good humor suggests that Paul is more likely to take a slew of meetings in a public process but ultimately re-sign with the Clippers, while Griffin is more likely to mull the decision privately under the guise of night, but announce he'll be playing elsewhere in 2017-18.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents19258322/the-la-clippers-last-stand

 

God. That would be an amazing get if we landed him. He and Harden in the PnR would be terrifying.

 

Sticky ball

 

Put some thought into this yesterday, and I'm in on making a run at him. However it will take a super max contract to get in the room with him, and that surely takes moving Eric Gordon at the very least.

However with the Clippers potentially having a first round exit, and so many question marks going into next season about that roster & potential to contend, I just don't see how BG isn't pondering a move, but I think its unlikely he leaves. Still worth a try as he'd be a great fit to play alongside Harden.

 

if we can't get Gordon Hayward, then I wouldn't mind Rudy Gay on a 1 year deal if we're looking for a wing that can create...anything more than that then I'd pass

 

I feel our offense would improve with
Blake, but he brings nothing on defense, and his anger outbursts make me very weary.

 

Griffin would bring an elite pick and roll option with Harden. He's got the lob threat, great hands, athleticism, strength, finishing ability and foot work to score when dumped the ball around the basket. Will get out on the fast break and run with the team, can score in the face up in the half court off the drive/post, has a reliable enough mid range J as well. One of his biggest assets is his passing, he would instantly be the second best passer on the team, has averaged 5 assist for the last two seasons while only averaging 2.3 turnovers which is very impressive considering his offensive load and number of assist.

Those are the positives, the negatives are...

Griffin would likely play a lot of center in Houston due to his lack of shot (38 makes on 33% this season is decent development but nowhere near a threat), Griffin isn't a good defender, he's well undersized for the center position (he's 6'8.5 barefoot, doesn't have standout length), he's hasn't been a good rebounder in recent years (could be part of Docs system with extending Griffins range and leaving the boards to Jordan), he has had recent injury issues with his quad (broken hand/toe are flukes though), his declining athleticism might not bold well for his game but he just turned 28 and a partially torn quad isn't a death sentence.

Overall would love to have him here of course, dudes a star talent, will only be eligible for a mid tier max which is solid value for his talent/age, the question is would you take him over Ibaka/Milsap who bring better defense and have more respectable shots that would allow them to play PF?

 

I netted PG and GRIII for Ego and Ariza (IRL would also take picks).

http://www.espn.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=n4lh5be

 

only way a trade like that has a chance of being realistic is if PG essentially forces his way to Houston by telling his FO that there's zero chance that he's staying in Indy and telling every other team trying to trade for him that he'd only re-sign with the Rockets

our picks are pretty much useless since they're bottom 5 1st round picks, they might as well be early 2nd round picks with more guaranteed salary

 

Ill also add to the negatives is that one dimension in his offense is his midrange game, which won't be utilized here for obvious reasons. This part of the game is limited which caps his value and versatility on this team.

 

just sign james johnson. plus he can defend and now shoot 3s.

 

I don't like Griffin due to injuries, but EG and Rhyno stayed healthy pretty much the whole season here. Maybe the Rockets medical team is the real MVP.

 

Griffin isn't a realistic option. Out of our range, his preference is LA and I would say OKC would probably be the second most popular guess.

I don't think Morey is comfortable letting any one of our 8 "starters" go, not just because of how well they are contributing but also because of chemistry. Of course things can change depending on how the Spurs series plays out. I would say from our top 8 the only one that wouldn't cause too much disruption letting go would be Capela but still, not only did he do more than what was expected in the regular season, but we wouldn't be able to get anyone near that skill level, let alone at that contract.

I'm not a cap expert so the situation may probably be more complicated than what I would hope, but for me I'd like to see us not trade any of our main rotation, Harden, Bev, Ariza, Ryno, Capela, EG and Lou, dump everyone else in order to free up as much space as possible (meaning lose Dekker, Harrell, Wiltjer, Tayloer, Brown) keep Onuaku....I believe that would leave us with around $18 mill...and hope we can convince someone like Millsap to bite on that, and when he most likely doesn't, just sign a solid role player that fits in our system who's own team won't be able to match, like Joe Ingles. Then after that we go over the cap to re-sign Nene to hopefully something reasonable. And keep Troy Williams as Sam Dekker's replacement.

And obviously we can afford to hold on to Dekker and Harrell if we don't want to attempt to go for a big fish like Millsap.

 

Our guards are set, and if we believe Nene can be just as effective or close to next year, then our centers should be set with Onuaka getting more playing time when Nene rests. Really I think we go for a SF or PF in free agency unless we can upgrade from Ryno or Ariza which I don't think is likely.

SF: Joe Ingles, James Johnson, Tony Snell
PF: Mirotic, Taj Gibson, Patrick Patterson, JaMychal Green

These are all attainable or close to attainable players for us in free agency. Not the sexiest but have to be realistic, and most fit our style of play.

Millsap, Ibaka, and Zbo.
Millsap and Ibaka we may try to go for but will fail, and Zbo....ha I know he doesn't fit our system at all but I love Zbo and would want him on my team any year.

We should also work on acquiring a trade exception so we have something to package with our first round pick around the trade deadline. We're not messing with our rotation and we have to send back salary to get someone.

EDIT: Just watching Utah Clippers game; Marreese Speights I believe has a player option with the Clippers. Never liked him but he's a big man that can add toughness to our front court and has been shooting the 3 at a decent clip for a big man. He could be had for cheap!

 

BG is probably my least favorite player in the NBA, a modern day Karl Malone. I don't think LA fans will even miss him if he leaves. That is usually telling.

 

explain