Compared to where the Los Angeles Clippers were a year ago, things look a whole lot different now heading into a pivotal 2018 offseason.
Their two primary stars both departed LA: point guard Chris Paul was dealt to the title-contending Houston Rockets while Blake Griffin was traded midseason to the Detroit Pistons. What made the Griffin trade a head-scratcher was the deal came mere months after inking him to a massive 5 year, $171 million contract. However, according to Clippers consultant Jerry West, it was time for change due to the team being “stuck” in place. Following from NY Times’ Marc Stein:
Going through with the trade would essentially be admitting that re-signing Griffin was a mistake, an ill-conceived attempt to cling to relevance and respectability after losing Paul.
Do it anyway, West urged.
“Don’t be afraid to make that tough decision if you need to,” Ballmer recalled West telling him.
“No one wants to do that, particularly with someone like Blake Griffin,” West says now. “It was very difficult for everyone, especially Steve, because he really liked Blake personally. But this franchise was really stuck. There was nowhere for it to go. You have to figure out how far away you really are and how we can get there.”
Without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin now being the focal point of your franchise, Jerry West’s assessment of them becoming stuck was correct. Flourishing in an unforgiving Western Conference with only one true offensive star in Blake Griffin would’ve been nearly impossible.
Now with Griffin and Paul both off the books, the Clips can turn their attention towards kicking off their rebuild. After this year, a rebuild may not be as painful as expected however as they managed to sneak into the postseason, and now have the advantage of an open-ended future instead of being tied down to the largely one-dimensional Blake Griffin.
