#WojBomb: Clips and Pistons Agree to Blake Griffin Trade

[Phantom255x]

It's been 4 hours, and I STILL don't understand why DET did this move.

[green_bballers13]

It's been 4 hours, and I STILL don't understand why DET did this move.

Blake Griffin. Stars want to play with stars. Regardless what you think about Blake and his health, he's an NBA star.

[Boris Badenov]

It's been 4 hours, and I STILL don't understand why DET did this move.

I think it's the "Chris Webber to the Kings" theory: if you're a small-market team, you acquire an A- star to go along with your current roster, and hope that with a year or two of mediocrity, some smart draft picks and another couple of lucky moves with trades or FA, you build a contender.

To do this you have to acquire someone who's under contract for a while. So, Griffin's contract is an asset rather than a liability in that context because it buys you time.

Not saying I think it's a terrific move. But I can see the logic, if they think Griffin has 4-5 good years left.

[Moranis]

Great trade for the Pistons. Acquire by far the best player in the trade, a couple of other young cheap guys for a protected 1st, a nice mid tier player, an expiring guard you weren't going to re-sign and a backup center. Absolutely love the move for the Pistons. Likewise hate it for the Clippers. 

[tazzmaniac]

It's been 4 hours, and I STILL don't understand why DET did this move.

Blake Griffin. Stars want to play with stars. Regardless what you think about Blake and his health, he's an NBA star.

Actually pretty straightforward.  SVG is desperate to save his job.  Having the same person as coach and GM is really dumb.   

[tazzmaniac]

Great trade for the Pistons. Acquire by far the best player in the trade, a couple of other young cheap guys for a protected 1st, a nice mid tier player, an expiring guard you weren't going to re-sign and a backup center. Absolutely love the move for the Pistons. Likewise hate it for the Clippers.

You're definitely in the minority on that.  Just listened to the Dunc'd on podcast and they were very down on the trade from a Piston's perspective.  The ringer article was not positive either.  The Pistons cap space situation is terrible.  They've locked themselves into mediocrity and that assumes Blake stays healthy and doesn't decline too fast. 

[gouki88]

Great trade for the Pistons. Acquire by far the best player in the trade, a couple of other young cheap guys for a protected 1st, a nice mid tier player, an expiring guard you weren't going to re-sign and a backup center. Absolutely love the move for the Pistons. Likewise hate it for the Clippers.

You're definitely in the minority on that.  Just listened to the Dunc'd on podcast and they were very down on the trade from a Piston's perspective.  The ringer article was not positive either.  The Pistons cap space situation is terrible.  They've locked themselves into mediocrity and that assumes Blake stays healthy and doesn't decline too fast.

Yeah, I don't like it for the Pistons at all. Blake + a rebounding athletic big who can't shoot has already been proven to never do that well (and they had CP3)

[hodgy03038]

Great trade for the Pistons. Acquire by far the best player in the trade, a couple of other young cheap guys for a protected 1st, a nice mid tier player, an expiring guard you weren't going to re-sign and a backup center. Absolutely love the move for the Pistons. Likewise hate it for the Clippers.

You're definitely in the minority on that.  Just listened to the Dunc'd on podcast and they were very down on the trade from a Piston's perspective.  The ringer article was not positive either.  The Pistons cap space situation is terrible.  They've locked themselves into mediocrity and that assumes Blake stays healthy and doesn't decline too fast.

^This

[Sophomore]

It's been 4 hours, and I STILL don't understand why DET did this move.

I think it's the "Chris Webber to the Kings" theory: if you're a small-market team, you acquire an A- star to go along with your current roster, and hope that with a year or two of mediocrity, some smart draft picks and another couple of lucky moves with trades or FA, you build a contender.

To do this you have to acquire someone who's under contract for a while. So, Griffin's contract is an asset rather than a liability in that context because it buys you time.

Not saying I think it's a terrific move. But I can see the logic, if they think Griffin has 4-5 good years left.

You’re making the best possible case for them. But if they think Griffin has 4-5 years of play that justifies his super max contract, they’re using more hope rather than logic.

[SparzWizard]

It's been 4 hours, and I STILL don't understand why DET did this move.

Detroit sees something in Blake Griffin that the Clippers don't see. Front court with Griffin and Drummond = yikes.

Clippers won this trade by a landslide though. They get young and balling boys, two draft picks, and also freed up cap space to sign LeBron James in the summer.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I still like it for both teams, but I'm interested to see what else the Pistons do.

Ish Smith continues to outplay Reggie Jackson in stretches. Its really weird to see Jackson start a game and Smith finish it, but that happens quite a bit in Detroit. My sense is that Jackson hasn't been great for the morale in the lockeroom, either. I wonder what Griffin will do?

I'm not sure anyone else pushes them over the top. They will look at guys like Fournier, Rubio, and Hood, but they need an upper tier guy.

[tazzmaniac]

I still like it for both teams, but I'm interested to see what else the Pistons do.

Ish Smith continues to outplay Reggie Jackson in stretches. Its really weird to see Jackson start a game and Smith finish it, but that happens quite a bit in Detroit. My sense is that Jackson hasn't been great for the morale in the lockeroom, either. I wonder what Griffin will do?

I'm not sure anyone else pushes them over the top. They will look at guys like Fournier, Rubio, and Hood, but they need an upper tier guy.

Saw a rumor that they are looking to get Hood for Johnson.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I still like it for both teams, but I'm interested to see what else the Pistons do.

Ish Smith continues to outplay Reggie Jackson in stretches. Its really weird to see Jackson start a game and Smith finish it, but that happens quite a bit in Detroit. My sense is that Jackson hasn't been great for the morale in the lockeroom, either. I wonder what Griffin will do?

I'm not sure anyone else pushes them over the top. They will look at guys like Fournier, Rubio, and Hood, but they need an upper tier guy.

Saw a rumor that they are looking to get Hood for Johnson.

The ringer? That's where I saw it. Makes sense, but I'm not sure its a huge upgrade considering they will have to pay Hood this off-season, whereas Johnson is still on a cost-controlled rookie contract.

[tazzmaniac]

I still like it for both teams, but I'm interested to see what else the Pistons do.

Ish Smith continues to outplay Reggie Jackson in stretches. Its really weird to see Jackson start a game and Smith finish it, but that happens quite a bit in Detroit. My sense is that Jackson hasn't been great for the morale in the lockeroom, either. I wonder what Griffin will do?

I'm not sure anyone else pushes them over the top. They will look at guys like Fournier, Rubio, and Hood, but they need an upper tier guy.

Saw a rumor that they are looking to get Hood for Johnson.

The ringer? That's where I saw it. Makes sense, but I'm not sure its a huge upgrade considering they will have to pay Hood this off-season, whereas Johnson is still on a cost-controlled rookie contract.

I agree but if the Pistons don't make the playoffs this season, SVG is probably gone.  Johnson, Griffin and Drummond is an ugly front court.  Very little spacing.   

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I still like it for both teams, but I'm interested to see what else the Pistons do.

Ish Smith continues to outplay Reggie Jackson in stretches. Its really weird to see Jackson start a game and Smith finish it, but that happens quite a bit in Detroit. My sense is that Jackson hasn't been great for the morale in the lockeroom, either. I wonder what Griffin will do?

I'm not sure anyone else pushes them over the top. They will look at guys like Fournier, Rubio, and Hood, but they need an upper tier guy.

Saw a rumor that they are looking to get Hood for Johnson.

The ringer? That's where I saw it. Makes sense, but I'm not sure its a huge upgrade considering they will have to pay Hood this off-season, whereas Johnson is still on a cost-controlled rookie contract.

I agree but if the Pistons don't make the playoffs this season, SVG is probably gone.  Johnson, Griffin and Drummond is an ugly front court.  Very little spacing.

I think Johnson will be a better shooter as he gets older. Griffin has been good this year too.

Also, you can deal with some poor shooting if you have decent passers. The problem with Blake and Jordan was that they weren't shooters and Jordan was a bad passer.

At this point in his career, Griffin is a great passer and Drummond has been pretty good too.