While it should be expected that the Los Angeles Clippers won’t even consider trading Blake Griffin, a recent report says that the team have actually made him available.
As is always the case, the rumors leading up to the NBA trade deadline are going to conflict at times and they won’t always be believable. At least, even when reports surface, there isn’t normally a high level of certainty that a trade will actually take place. In regards to the Los Angeles Clippers, it seems almost impossible to believe that they will even consider trading Blake Griffin.
The Denver Nuggets called L.A. about Griffin and were quickly turned away, while Doc Rivers has said that “Blake’s ours and he’s going to stay ours” (per Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times). Even if the Clippers took a call from the Nuggets, this hardly adds much (if anything) to the argument that Griffin is going to be traded.
However, another report has gone as far as claiming that he’s available.
According to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News, the Clippers have made Griffin available:
"The Clippers are making Blake Griffin available even though the injured forward is recovering from a second surgical procedure to his right (punching) hand and may not play again this season, especially if he’s traded to a team out of the playoff race.Denver, Boston and Atlanta cannot be ruled out but if Griffin remains with the Clippers after Thursday this may be something the Knicks and Carmelo Anthony may want to consider over the summer.A Griffin-for-Anthony trade makes sense on a number of levels including the fact that Anthony and Chris Paul have for years tried to become teammates…But any deal involving Anthony still comes down to him waiving his no-trade clause and Anthony twice reiterated this weekend that he’s not prepared to that just “yet.” The Clippers are believed to be one team Anthony would seriously consider joining. Stay tuned."
The matter of Griffin’s injured hand not preventing other team’s interest isn’t the surprising element of this report; it’s the statement that the Clippers have actually made him available. Not to put down the credibility of Isola’s report by any means, but this does go against everything we’ve heard until this point.
Plus, the team simply are not better off without Griffin. While the floor spacing and ball movement under Chris Paul as the sole leader may help the team at times, Griffin adds a dynamic and level of elite offensive versatility that can’t be replaced.
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From his excellent ball handling, post-up ability, mid-range game and point guard-esque passing, he does not hurt the team. Yes, they operate differently when he’s on the floor and the ball can slow down when he’s posting up. But when he’s dropping 23.2 points on 50.8 percent shooting with five assists per game, how is this a problem?
He’s incredibly difficult to stop down low now, and even if this slows down the offense at times, it clearly isn’t much of a dilemma as the Clippers led the NBA in offensive rating last season and rank 5th again this season, despite the struggles they’ve facd.
Also, regardless of Carmelo Anthony’s friendship with Paul that can theoretically make this trade make sense, Melo’s no-trade clause isn’t going away. In fact, he’s said himself that he isn’t going anywhere, as ESPN’s Ian Begley has reported:
"With the NBA trade deadline five days away, Carmelo Anthony reiterated that he has no plans to exercise his no-trade clause and leave the New York Knicks.“There’s always some trade s— going [on],” Anthony said Saturday during an interview on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “I’m not going anywhere.”Anthony has a no-trade clause and repeatedly has said that he has no plans to waive that clause before the Feb. 18 deadline."
Melo is establishing a great relationship with rookie Kristaps Porzingis and averaging a career-high 4.2 assists per game, which is what the Knicks need from him at this stage of his career. They shouldn’t be focused on trading him to bring in another power forward like Griffin when they already have Porzingis, and the Clippers adding Melo would simply be a major step backward.
No matter what added floor spacing he could offer as a stretch four, Griffin is in his prime and offers more overall offensive versatility. A positive record without him (during a schedule that has largely been relatively easy) and an overreaction to the punch incident should not make him a trade asset.
Next: Clippers' NBA Trade Deadline Targets
If the Clippers have really made Blake available, it’s shocking to say the least. But when it comes to the actual likelihood of him being dealt, there’s still a far higher change of him staying put in L.A.