Getty Kawhi Leonard and Blake Griffin.
Blake Griffin knows a thing or two about playing on hyped-up Los Angeles Clippers squads.
Griffin — the No. 1 overall pick of the Clippers in the 2009 NBA Draft — was ready to spend his entire career with the Clippers before the team decided to send him to the Detroit Pistons in a shocking blockbuster deal just months after he signed a five-year, max deal.
“I really believe [the Clippers’ history] is pre-Blake and post-Blake,” head coach Doc Rivers said following the trade. “Before Blake came here, this wasn’t a great franchise as far as basketball. But once Blake got here, [Paul] followed, [DeAndre Jordan] and all those guys. That’s when this team was a franchise that you talked about. Blake is responsible for all of that.”
For Rivers and the Clippers, that “post-Blake” era just got very interesting with both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George set to suit up for the team next season after a series of NBA landscape-shifting moves on Saturday.
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Watching from afar, Griffin thinks his former team signing Leonard and trading for George is “good for basketball,” especially in LA where the Lakers were set to hold most of the star power with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
“I think it’s good for basketball, good for L.A.,” Griffin told TMZ Sports. “I think it’ll bring a little bit more balance to the Los Angeles basketball scene, so it’s good.”
Griffin added that he didn’t necessarily prefer playing in LA to Detroit.
“No, to be honest. I think playing in another city now I see the advantages and disadvantages to playing in different places,” Griffin said. “Everything has a positive and a negative. It just depends on what you value.”
In his first full season in Detroit, Griffin was an All-Star and led the team to the postseason, averaging a career-high 24.5 points to go with 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists.
Clippers Get Their Super-Duo in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports first reported that Leonard was heading to the Clippers and back to California. Leonard played his college ball at San Diego State and is from Southern California. He was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 draft.
Leonard led the Raptors to their first NBA title last season, averaging 26.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game following a trade from the San Antonio Spurs. The Raptors had to give up franchise cornerstone and fan favorite DeMar DeRozan in that deal, but it more than paid off. Leonard was named the NBA Finals MVP, averaging 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.7 steals during an incredible playoff run.
Leonard reportedly agreed to a max deal with the Clippers for four years and $142 million.
Leonard didn’t want to go to LA alone, however, and reportedly pushed George to find a way to the Clippers and he quickly requested the Thunder to trade him.
After Leonard pushed George to find a way to get to the Clippers, Paul George approached the team and requested a trade, league sources tell ESPN. OKC was left with no choice and made the best out of a difficult situation, per sources.
Wojnarowski reported that Oklahoma City will also get second-year point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Danilo Gallinari to go with the massive collection of picks. Woj reported that the Thunder’s haul includes the Clippers unprotected 2022, 2024 and 2026 picks, their unprotected 2021 and protected 2023 first-round picks via Miami, and the rights to swap picks with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025.
George finished third in MVP voting last season, averaging 28 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals per game.
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