Blake Griffin Opts Out, Becomes Free Agent

Unsurprisingly, Clippers forward Blake Griffin has formally opted out of the final year of his contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. The All-Star will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

While the Clippers are expected to at least attempt to retain Griffin and fellow free agent Chris Paul, the forward also expects to see interest from other teams looking to add a star.

Earlier this week we wrote about the Rockets targeting the 28-year-old power forward and it wasn’t long ago when Wojnarowski mentioned that the Celtics could be the biggest threat to the Clippers as far as luring Griffin away was concerned.

Had Griffin not opted out through his early termination clause, he would have made $21.4MM in 2017/18. Instead, as Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets, he’ll be eligible for as much as $175MM through five years so long as he stays with the franchise.

If Griffin leaves the Clippers, he’ll be eligible for a four-year, $130MM deal.

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