Clippers trade Blake Griffin to the Celtics
Let’s be clear here. Griffin is not the same difference maker he was prior to his recent bout with injuries. He’s no longer the explosive freak that set the Western Conference on fire. That time surely has passed.
But the former No. 1 overall pick is still a potential 25-10 guy. He’s also among the best passing big men in the game. Again, that’s important when it comes to a team like the Celtics who need an interior presence to go with Al Horford. It would surely help against the Cavs back east.
More than anything, the only lingering question here is whether Boston would be forced to trade the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft for Griffin.
If that’s the Clippers’ asking price, it might not be worth it for Boston. Instead, the team could roll with Markelle Fultz as a running partner for Isaiah Thomas while being able to potentially add a lesser option and giving up other assets. This is a question general manager Danny Ainge will have to ask himself over the next couple weeks.
If Boston is indeed able to pull the trigger for Griffin without yielding the first pick, it would be in prime position to unseat Cleveland back east.
Having Griffin team up with Horford on the inside would create a mismatch of epic proportions. As we’ve seen in the Finals, Tristan Thompson just isn’t a difference maker for the Cavs. If you now put Horford up against him with Griffin taking on Love, it eliminates any real inside advantage the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs might have on the interior.
A deal of this magnitude would also potentially enable Boston to sell off other assets (namely Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley) for an elite wing defender to go up against James. Again, that would narrow the gap considerably back east and change up the power structure big time.
The time is now for Ainge to use his plus-level assets to take on Cleveland directly. LeBron may have appeared in seven consecutive Finals out of this conference, but his time as a dominant player can’t last forever.