Why the Celtics Should Stay Away from Blake Griffin
Blake Griffin is a free agent this summer, and the Celtics should steer clear of giving him a max contract.
A rumor came out on Wednesday afternoon that the passionate fan base of the Boston Celtics could lure free agent forward Blake Griffin to sign with the Celtics in free agency. The Celtics can carve out enough cap space to offer a max contract, and will be in the market for big time names come July 1st.
Griffin is one of the biggest names on the market, but the Celtics should stay away from him. They are one player away from being able to compete for championships, and using the rest of the cap space that Danny Ainge strategically set up on a player like Griffin would be a waste in my mind.
Fit Within the Scheme
The main problem I have with Griffin is that he would cause more problems with lineups than he would solve. Boston’s strength under Brad Stevens is going small with Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder, and Al Horford. This was a huge asset for the Celtics in the playoffs, as the Bulls and Wizards couldn’t match up with the speed and defensive versatility.
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If the Celtics sign Griffin, then what happens to the small ball style that makes this team so effective? In the lineup above, you probably switch out Smart for Griffin to create a traditional lineup with your best players. If the Celtics want to go small in key moments, either Horford or Griffin need to be on the bench. Sitting a max contract player in the key stretches of a game is not an ideal situation.
Griffin can’t be considered a small ball type of player because he lacks a reliable perimeter game. He has shown a solid ability in dribbling the ball at the power forward position, but that’s all he offers to a small ball lineup.
Injuries and Attitude
Let’s say that Griffin signs and Stevens is able to work his magic and constructs a system that maximizes his best players to where Griffin can fit in. You still have a history of injuries that Griffin has sustained throughout his career that raise some red flags.
After only missing four games in his first four seasons in the NBA, Griffin has not been able to stay on the floor. He has missed a total of 83 games over the last three seasons, and has also gone down in the playoffs for back to back years.
Even if the Celtics can manage to find a way to fit Griffin into their scheme, there’s a good chance that he misses significant time due to injury. The nightmare situation for Boston would be to sign their “final piece” to a max contract and have that player be injured for the majority of that deal.
There’s also the incident where Griffin punched a Clippers team employee and missed time with a hand injury. The Celtics have built a culture of high character players, and Griffin’s attitude problems in the last few years would be a reason not to sign him.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, Griffin is an all star level player that as played at an MVP level in the past. He has tremendous talent that can change a team’s season expectations in an instant.
However, the Celtics can’t just take on the first option that comes to mind when adding talent to the roster. Ainge has constructed a terrific roster with future assets and young talent coupled with veterans that know how to win. He must be careful in his next step, because everything can easily be erased and push the Celtics back a few years with one big mistake.
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I think that the problems Boston would have with fitting Griffin into the system as well as the risk of injury he comes with is not worth the max contract that he will demand on the free agent market. Gordon Hayward is the better fit for the Celtics in my mind and could be the right move to help Boston contend for titles now and be set up to do so for years to come.