Getty Blake Griffin daps up James Harden during a recent game against the Detroit Pistons.
Signing All-Stars through the buyout market has seemed to become a weekly ritual for the second-place Brooklyn Nets.
First, it was six-time All-Star Blake Griffin who chose to play with Brooklyn after reaching a buyout agreement with the Detroit Pistons and on Sunday seven-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge signed a contract with the Nets for the rest of the season After reaching a buyout agreement with the San Antonio Spurs.
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Blake Griffin Goes off on Nets Haters
Because of the abundance of riches that the Nets have on their roster, they have been accused of playing an unfair brand of basketball as most are now expecting them to cruise to the franchise’s first NBA title.
It is a narrative that Griffin finds hilarious, given how the majority of NBA fans have bashed him the past couple of seasons.
“For the last year, I have been hearing about how bad I was and then I come here and people say, ‘Oh, it’s not fair.’ “I guess you could say it’s amusing,” Griffin said via ESPN’s Malika Andrews.
Some perspective from Blake Griffin about the amount of talent the Nets have acquired: For the last year, I have been hearing about how bad I was and then I come here and people say, ‘Oh, it’s not fair.’ “I guess you could say it’s amusing,” Griffin said.
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Griffin Was Written off by Most NBA Fans
Griffin signed a $175.4 million max contract with the Los Angeles Clippers in the summer of 2017 and was perceived to be the future of the franchise. That notion didn’t last long as he was traded to the Detroit Pistons in January of 2018 for Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris.
Griffin was averaging a career-low in points for the Pistons this season at just 12.3 points per game on a dismal 36.3% from the field. Griffin who at one point was one of the most feared men in the NBA on the fast break had become just a mere afterthought in the minds of most NBA fans.
Now that Griffin has arrived in Brooklyn, he is hoping that it can be not only a resurgence of his basketball career but also an opportunity for him to secure that ever so elusive first NBA title.
So far, the six-time All-Star has settled in pretty nicely. In his last outing against his former team, the Detroit Pistons, Griffin went off for 17 points and went 2-2 from beyond the arc. It is Griffin’s first game scoring in double digits since February 12.
Nash Has Rotation Decisions To Make
Aldridge is not expected to suit up for the Nets this week according to head coach Steve Nash. The seven-time All-Star has not played basketball for several weeks up to this point. Much like Griffin, he will need a ramp-up period before returning to the court.
When Aldridge does return, Nash, will have his hands full with trying to figure out Brooklyn’s rotation will the extreme depth of talent that the team has, particularly at the center position. Nash will have to figure out how to stagger the lineups with DeAndre Jordan, Nic Claxton, and now Aldridge.
“Something that I can’t predict. We’ll see how it all fits together and it’ll present itself. But right now I can’t predict how that’s going to be with it being any more than a prediction,” Nash said on the minutes distribution,” via SNY.
“So we’ll just see how it goes. We have lots of depth, lots of options and we’re excited about it.”
With the additions of Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge, how does Steve Nash see the minutes being distributed for big men once Kevin Durant returns?
“We’ll see how it all fits together…we have lots of depth, lots of options and we’re excited about it”
One thing that Nets fans can get excited about is the return of Kyrie Irving on Monday, who will suit up against the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing the team’s last three games.
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