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Clippers Rumor: Denver turned down offer for Blake Griffin

By Trisity Miller

Apr 4, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) attempts to dunk over Denver Nuggets forward J.J. Hickson (7) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) attempts to dunk over Denver Nuggets forward J.J. Hickson (7) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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The rumor mill is hard at work to make sure Clippers fans don’t ease through the trade deadline without a headache.

The initial report involving the Clippers and Denver Nuggets was that the two teams discussed a potential trade involving Blake Griffin. Soon after, the rumors were dismissed, at least on the Clippers’ end, and noted as a brief conversation that involved Denver — and later other teams like Orlando and Philadelphia — placing a phone call to Doc Rivers and immediately being turned down when checking for Griffin’s availability.

Fast forward and it looks like that scenario may not have been all of the truth, if you choose to believe ESPN’s Chris Broussard who says Doc Rivers did offer the power forward to Denver, asking for Danilo Gallinari and other players in return.

“The Clippers will tell you that everyone’s calling them, ‘is Blake available?’. I’ve been told that the Clippers actually called Denver and offered Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson for Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Will Barton, and Nikola Jokic,” said Broussard on Mike & Mike, “and Denver turned it down because Blake will be a free agent after next season and they felt like he may leave. Plus they like some of those young kids, Jokic they really love.”

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    • “I talked to Doc Rivers about this and he adamantly denied it, of course, and you don’t know who’s necessarily telling the truth and he denied it.”

    As the saying goes, where there’s smoke there’s fire, and the Clippers are surrounded by it at the moment. You can’t dismiss the rumors; too many notables are claiming Griffin to be available, and if you can reference a point in modern NBA history where these faces have all ended up wrong, be my guess and point me to it.

    Jumping to the details of this rumor, this mirrors what one would assume the Clippers are looking for in return for Griffin if they’re unable to nab a superstar: a small forward (Gallinari), frontcourt depth (Faried, Jokic) and an able backcourt body (Barton), and a pick because superstars garner picks. It makes sense in a post-Griffin landscape, with Doc Rivers filling in role players wherever Gallinari isn’t.

    But the deal was turned down. Without knowledge from anyone within the Nuggets’ organization, the why for doing so is simple: losing assets for the possibility to rent a superstar for 1 1/2 season just doesn’t make sense.

    Compared to Los Angeles and other lucrative markets last season, Denver doesn’t pose many reasons for Griffin to re-sign. If the living situation is important to Blake, Denver ranks in the median (unless Griffin is a huge fan of herb). The want to be paired with another superstar? Unless Emmanuel Mudiay makes the jump in the 1 1/2 season span, Denver gaining one through free agency seems unlikely. And winning, which is expected to be the end-all for majority big-name free agents? Without the previous factor, Denver will, at best, be in 5 through 8 territory in the West, a downgrade from the three seasons in Los Angeles.

    The reality of any rumor involving Griffin is simple: it just doesn’t make sense in the long-term. Regardless of whether Rivers was brought into the organization to help push the franchise closer to winning a championship, what’s more important than competing is fielding a team that compete for a number of years, something this franchise hasn’t been able to do. Instead, in a world without Blake, it’s betting on the joys of Los Angeles to draw free agents or a lottery pick evolving into a superstar, like Blake, once Chris Paul retires. That’s a gamble many a team have failed at, and though the hits are glorious — Griffin, Towns, AD, LeBron, Kobe, etc. — the misses could send the Clippers back into the irrelevancy that made them a lottery staple year in and year out.

    Next: Clippers Trade Talk: L.A.'s NBA trade deadline targets

    The end-game may not be near but barring a trade you just can’t turn down falls into Doc’s lap (Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and a few other top players), moving Griffin — if he is to be moved — just doesn’t make sense before or at the deadline, whether it’s Denver being sought after for a deal or another team in the market for Griffin.

    We’ll see though.

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