Rumor: Clippers rebuff Denver’s trade interest in Blake Griffin

After the Los Angeles Clippers reportedly called the Denver Nuggets about trading Blake Griffin, it turns out they weren’t the first to call and they weren’t interested.

Always be cautious with rumors. Dragging the basketball world down a conversation-laden path filled with hypothetical trades, questioning why Blake Griffin is even up for grabs, and skepticism because moving on from Blake just doesn’t make too much sense from a basketball perspective, it was reported the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers had a conversation revolving around a Griffin-dominate trade deal.

Turns out,  the Clippers didn’t call the Nuggets to inquire on what they would offer up in a trade that’d send Blake Griffin to Colorado. Instead, per Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, it was the Nuggets who phoned Los Angeles, and talks got nowhere as Doc Rivers and company were interested in what Denver had in mind.

The Nuggets aren’t in the wrong. A young team with an impressive collection of players, it’s their just due to inquire when a superstar is reportedly on the market. It’s the expected route teams in the rebuilding process pursue, hoping the right guy becomes available, acquired, and lifts the franchise to heights near championship contention — the Houston Rockets are the latest model of such having done so with James Harden.

The worst that could — and did — happen is Los Angeles saying no, and they move on, focusing on improving their crop and preparing to add another lottery talent (and possibly multiple with the picks in-house) this summer.

Briefly digging into Denver’s assets, Danilo Gallinari would be an excellent fit in Los Angeles, shifting between the three and four spot while keeping wing defenders (Kawhi, Igoudala, Klay) from guarding Chris Paul in end-game moments. After Gallo, outside of rookie Emmanuel Mudiay and second-year center , the crop is plentiful, all able to help the Clippers immediately: Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic, Will Barton. Then the pick, one or multiple, which the Clippers could flip for immediate talent or use to build a young, lottery talent (at best, Ben Simmons; at worst, someone like Buddy Heild or another oft-mentioned college player).

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That’s impressive, and unless the Clippers can pull off a near trade that’d net an immediate star/superstar back, any team placing a phone call to Doc Rivers’ line will have a similar collection of assets to offer the Clippers for Blake.

But with the reported rebuff, or the Clippers, it puts into question exactly what the Clippers want for Griffin if he is as available as reports make him out to be. Or that it shuts down any questions of Griffin’s availability in the now — Woj of Yahoo/The Vertical released a short video citing if things don’t go as expected in the 2016 playoffs (it’s safe to assume championship or bust is the expectation?), Griffin will be put in the crosshairs as Doc Rivers scrambles to 1) retool on the fly and prepare for another championship run and 2) save his job, because trading Griffin’s nullify’s a large portion of bad that has occurred under Doc the GM.

There’s too much being said about Griffin’s availability for it to not be true — this many notable members of the media aren’t throwing their hat in the arena for all of this to be false; they know something, and even if nothing is brewing the mindset is there.

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And make no mistake: if Griffin isn’t moved at the trade deadline, this won’t be the end of the talks. The hand injury has cast a poor shadow over this team’s playoff fortunes and whatever the result, championship withstanding, Griffin’s bad choice to punch his friend in the face will remain a cliff note heading into the offseason, where the funk will really hit the fan because the Clippers will have continually failed at its attempt to win now.

But for now, it’s a no to Denver — and presumably a no to the Philadelphia 76ers who were linked to Griffin by Fox Sports’ Sam Amico, likely approaching Los Angeles in the same manner as Denver.