After the Los Angeles Clippers traded away point guard Chris Paul, it was widely expected that free agent Blake Griffin would leave the franchise to join a title contender. There were multiple teams interested in him as they should have been. When healthy, Griffin is one of the most dominant forces at that 4 position, making him a key piece for the Clippers ever since he was drafted first overall in 2009.
Though Griffin could’ve bolted LA for better title hopes, he decided to stay put and ink a long-term deal with the Clips. Griffin recently opened up about his decision to remain a Clipper, calling it a no-brainer and expressing that he hopes to play the rest of his days in Los Angeles. Following from ESPN’s Kevin Arnowitz:
“Obviously this has been my home since I was drafted, and a lot went into this decision for me,” Griffin said. “Not only what was best for me and my family, but just the quality of people and work that we have here. That goes from owners all the way down to the coaching staff to the roster to everything just day-to-day. I think with [Clippers owner] Steve Ballmer and [president of basketball operations and head coach] Doc [Rivers] and [executive vice president of basketball operations] Lawrence [Frank], all the way down, in the end I realized this is a no-brainer for me. This is the best place for me. This is a place where I want to start and finish my career.”
Blake Griffin had scheduled meetings with a few clubs but ended up canceling all of them, deciding quickly to stay with the Clippers. Griffin is still nursing a foot injury but is expected to be ready for action by the time training camp rolls around which is encouraging news for a team that will desperately need their power forward to shoulder a lot of the offensive load.
While they will sorely miss Chris Paul running the show, Griffin’s loyalty could go a long way for them and their star frontcourt duo of him and DeAndre Jordan remained intact and it should stay that way for the foreseeable future.
