Clippers: Why Celtics will be interested in Blake Griffin trade
By Tom West
A new elite passer
Beyond the obvious scoring that Blake brings, it’s his passing that could really open up new success for the Celtics and allow their offense to run through the frontcourt far more often.
Horford is also a great passer, so when adding Griffin into the mix, it isn’t hard to see how they compliment Brad Stevens fast-paced system and take pressure off Isaiah Thomas from creating so much of the offense.
Even if Griffin slows down some of the ball movement at times when he’s allowed to work in the post, having another creator won’t hurt at all. Griffin recorded a career-high assist percentage of 27.2 this season and 26.2 in 2014-15, averaging 5.1 assists per game over both seasons to truly become one of the best passing bigs in the NBA.
When he isn’t passing from the post like Horford or driving to kick to the perimeter, Griffin’s ability to pull down a rebound, handle the ball up court, then deliver accurate passes in transition helps further still. With Griffin and Horford drawing so much attention, space will only be easier to find for Thomas and the Celtics’ other shooters.
Griffin adding a new dynamic with some big-to-big pick-and-roll play is another valuable asset to have. He isn’t required to be the ball handler very often in pick-and-rolls, only running such plays 5.7 percent of the time for the Clippers, but he executed at an exceptional rate this season when he did by creating 1.18 points per possession, good enough for 1st in the NBA (albeit on a small sample size, per NBA.com).
When putting that ball handling ability to use alongside Horford, the level to which the Celtics’ frontcourt has been upgraded will be startling for fans to see. Griffin is a monumental upgrade over Jared Sullinger to say the least.
Next: Griffin's age coincides with the Celtics' future