Getty Blake Griffin, center, of the Brooklyn Nets.
Given the way the Lakers roster looked last season, overpopulated by aging veterans whose names and reputations carried more weight than their ability to play productively, it would seem unlikely that the team would pursue a 33-year-old former All-Star with a history of knee troubles and 13 years of NBA experience behind him.
But there may be more to it than that, especially if the Lakers make a run at free-agent forward Blake Griffin, the one-time Clippers star, this summer. Griffin does not fulfill the Lakers’ goal of getting younger and more athletic, but he can bring something the Lakers badly needed last season: energy and a lack of ego.
That’s what Griffin showed during last year’s playoffs, even though it was only in two appearances for a Nets team that was swept. Griffin, because of his lack of mobility, was pulled from the rotation by Brooklyn down the stretch of last season, but played with great energy and aggressiveness in the last two games of the team’s ill-fated postseason run.
“I like him for the Lakers if he can bring that energy every day, it makes sense,” one Eastern Conference executive told Heavy.com.
Griffin Struggled With his Shooting Last Year
Griffin averaged just 6.4 points in 17.1 minutes last year for the Nets, and struggled badly to make shots, hitting only 42.5% from the field and 26.2% from the 3-point line. He played in only five of the Nets’ final 19 games that season, and logged only 50 minutes in that span.
But with the Nets on the ropes against Boston in the first round of the playoffs, coach Steve Nash turned back to Griffin, who garnered attention by playing with vigor for a team that had seemed mostly resigned to lose.
“The thing about Blake is, it is obvious he can’t do much of what he used to do, even when he was in Detroit,” the executive said. “But he made a big, big impression around the league with the way he played against Boston, even though it was just a couple of games. But he was flying around, throwing his body around, taking charges, hitting the floor. He had a care factor that was off the charts, and a lot of teams took notice. This is an All-Star and a former MVP candidate and he is sacrificing himself. As your 10th man on a minimum deal, you take that. It raises everyone’s level.”
Lakers Looking to Get (Mostly) Younger
Griffin obviously has a comfort level playing in Los Angeles, having spent the first eight years of his career with the Clippers, before he was shipped to Detroit. He missed his entire first season with a knee injury but missed only four games in his subsequent four seasons. Injuries caught up with him, though, as he missed at least 15 games in every season he has played since, with one exception (in 2018-19 when he played 75 games for Detroit).
The Lakers pursued Griffin in free agency after he was set free by the Pistons last year with a contract buyout. He signed with the Nets.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has stated that the Lakers intend to get younger this offseason, and traded into the NBA draft last week to take 19-year-old Max Christie. L.A. will move to keep Malik Monk on board, too, and will try to fill in the roster with free agents in their 20s.
If L.A. thinks Griffin can play with a high level of energy, though, he could be an exception.