Clearly a talent but if you read enough about him, he’s got some weird behaviour and some family stuff that hindered him from what I gathered.
Like a vegan who just wont shut up about how tofurky tastes just as good as turkey. Or a weed smoker who won't shut up about how canabis will cure every disease known to man. Or a Tesla fanboy who wants to talk about the genius of Elon Musk. In happy for you that you've found meaning, but I don't necessarily share your ethusiasm, and that should be OK.
Here's what I'm seeing... He's a guy they can stash at RGV to get reps and get his legs under him while we approach the deadline. Then we have a chance to move some vets like Tate or Uncle Jeff and he steps in for depth. Could even go into next offseason. If we get a deal offered to move Tari, Jalen, Whitmore, and draft assets for a scoring wing, he could step up to fill a bench role. No downside to the move.
If he can just hit a couple jumpers in garbage time to increase the lead from 17 to 25 , he's worth the gamble..
Does Iron Maiden show up on his list? The lead singer said at the concert that they didn't practice satanism and it was all a bunch of bs rumors. This was "Powerslave" tour at The Summit. lol
You can just ignore him. It's not like the media is propping him up like Taylor Swift or something... are you out there trying to find him? I think I've heard one interview in 5 years out of him when he was pushing his book series. I'm not necessarily a fan, but he seems like a nice enough person.
I really did not want this guy as a prospect coming out, and I could not understand how the same scouts and models for Houston could rate Tari Eason and him as similar prospects. I rated him as the anti-Tari; when I watched Eason in college and fell in love with the prospect, I saw a guy who was flying everywhere on the court, even to the detriment of the team. A guy who was doing a bunch of crazy stuff that absolutely was not going to work in the NBA; the signature, head down, right-hand only drives where he just lowered his shoulder and forced guys out of the way. Turns out, Eason is so freaking good, long, and athletic, that yes, he can actually do all of this stuff in the NBA to the best players in the world. AJ Griffin on the other hand, seemed like he was always doing exactly the kind of stuff that would work in the NBA, but ONLY that. I was always wanting more from him, and while the efficiency was there, I kept wanting to see more. I think the idea was that he would continue to gain back athleticism as he got further away from his injuries and was still super young, but seems a lot more like it may just never come back, ala Patrick Baldwin Jr. Obviously the cost is insignificant, but I just don't see him being a real consideration. I rate him the same as the Rockets dumping Josh Christopher last offseason; everyone remembered that he was a bright spot on the 2022 tire-fire and was wondering why he fell out of the rotation, when in actuality, the Rockets did pretty well to get off his contract and free up the roster spot when they could. Here's hoping for AJ Griffin's potential, but with the way the Rockets' roster is so overcrowded, if I was a betting man, I'd put my money on his 4th year rookie option not being exercised, and him riding the bench as contract filler. $6M seems like far too high a guarantee for 2025-2026 if they are serious about being players in FA.
Probably going to remain a bust, but the fact that he's the son of Rockets Legend and Milwaukee Bucks Coaching Legend Adrian Griffin carries way more weight to me than all the dorkos digging up 2 year old draft profiles. Rockets Legendary Father Son duo status attained. Put him in the hall with the Barrys and the Fertittas.
https://www.si.com/nba/hawks/news/aj-griffin-speaks-for-the-first-time-since-returning-to-the-hawks https://www.christianpost.com/news/atlanta-hawks-adrian-griffin-jr-testifies-prays-at-church.html Maybe the clean slate will help him. But I'm starting to think that getting any production out of him is gonna be a nice bonus and that the real value is gonna be matching that $4M salary in some package in 60 days (is that how long teams have to wait to re-trade a player in a package deal?).
Continuing the Griffin tradition I see. Dad played for us before and who can forget Eddie Griffin RIP (not related btw)
