Los Angeles Clippers: 15 best draft picks of all-time
By John Buhler
It was sad to see him go, but maybe one day the Clippers will get another high-flying basketball acrobat that can dunk over Kia Optimas half as well as Blake Griffin did in that one slam dunk contest. He might now play for the Detroit Pistons, but Griffin is the best No. 1 overall draft pick in Clippers franchise history by a mile.
Los Angeles drafted the National Player of the Year out of Oklahoma first overall in the 2009 NBA Draft. However, he would not debut until the 2010-11 NBA season due to injury. It turned out to be okay though, as Griffin would win NBA Rookie of the Year for 2010-11. He would proceed to rattle off five straight All-Star appearances right out of the gate and four straight All-NBA team honors from his second year on.
During the 2013-14 NBA season, Griffin would finish third in NBA MVP voting. That year he averaged 24.1 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 35.8 minutes per contest. Griffin was an emerging superstar as the primary aerial leader of Lob City. However, he would not make an All-Star game for the Clippers after his 26th birthday.
Griffin would be traded to the Pistons right before the 2018 NBA trade deadline. In his Clippers career, Griffin played in and started 504 games for Los Angeles. He averaged 21.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 35.1 minutes per contest in seven-plus seasons with the Clippers. Griffin was on track to be the first Clipper to have his jersey retired by the organization, but now we’ll just have to wait and see now that he has been traded to the Pistons.