Clippers ‘extremely confident’ they can keep Blake Griffin, Chris Paul
By Tom West
Doc Rivers said in a recent interview that he’s “extremely confident” the Los Angeles Clippers can keep both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul in NBA free agency next summer.
Confidence from a team coach or president that they can keep star free agents isn’t surprising. With the common intention to do so and wanting to encourage fans that their team is staying intact, such a comment makes perfect sense. Doc Rivers admitted that when talking to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, but still expressed that he’s “extremely confident” that the Los Angeles Clippers can re-sign both Blake Griffin and Chris Paul in free agency next summer:
"“Well, I’m confident. Probably the same way every team is confident that they’re gonna be able to keep their guys. I do think we have an attractive place. We have a new owner. It would be interesting if Steve Ballmer wasn’t the owner; I don’t know how confident I would be. But with Steve, I’m extremely confident that we can keep both.”"
While Griffin and Paul are technically still under contract for 2017-18, they both have player options for the season and it would be stunning if they don’t opt out next summer to be signed onto bigger contracts with the drastically increased salary cap.
Doc went on to say that winning is the key to keeping both players interested in the Clippers’ future, encouraging them that next season doesn’t need to be their last shot at new success.
More than ever, the Clippers need to make the Western Conference Finals for the first time in their franchise’s history, which certainly seems like a possibility after the Oklahoma City Thunder lost Kevin Durant and the San Antonio Spurs lost Tim Duncan and continue to age.
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If the Clippers can reach that stage of the playoffs, they can at least assert themselves as the second best team in the West and sell Griffin and Paul on L.A., their chemistry, and the best season in franchise history.
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At the same time, though, providing Durant’s fit in Golden State is as seamless and unstoppable as we all expect (it will be), second may not be enough for Griffin and Paul, especially for the latter at 31 years old. Heading into the end of his prime, a fresh start and an easier opportunity to defeat the Warriors elsewhere (if that’s possible) may interest Paul.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to know what Blake and Chris will want. Blake heading to Oklahoma City has been a popular idea as of late, but that may be a far less attractive homecoming to him if Russell Westbrook is dealt away.
As for Chris, he’ll have his fair share of options as the NBA’s top two-way point guard. Even at 32 in a year’s time, he’ll have several strong years left with a skill set that still operates incredibly well as his speed slowly drops off.
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Next season really is the most pivotal year in the history of Lob City. Both superstars could leave for nothing in free agency, sending the Clippers into a state of panic as they’re left to build a new team and start again. On the other hand, they may have interest in finishing their careers in L.A. and work on rebuilding their supporting cast (again). We just have to wait and see, but Doc’s confidence and efforts to keep them won’t hurt.