Pistons forward Blake Griffin will visit a specialist in Los Angeles this week in search of solutions to address his left knee issue, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. According to Haynes, one option being considered is season-ending knee surgery.
Griffin, a six-time All-Star, enjoyed one of his all-time best seasons in 2018/19, his first full year in Detroit, but has been limited by knee problems in 2019/20. The 30-year-old has only been able to play in 18 games and has put up career-worst numbers when he’s on the court, including 15.5 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and an abysmal .352 FG%.
The Pistons had entered the season expecting to load-manage Griffin to some extent, but his ineffectiveness when he plays and his inability to suit up at all for half the team’s games have significantly impacted Detroit’s playoff chances. The Pistons currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference with a 13-24 record.
While it remains to be seen whether Griffin and the Pistons will actually opt for a surgical procedure that ends the big man’s season, there have been multiple signs that the franchise is considering taking a step back from its win-now efforts. Team owner Tom Gores said last week that the management group will have to “assess everything” in the coming weeks, and reports surfaced shortly thereafter suggesting the Pistons were listening to trade inquiries on Andre Drummond.
If Detroit launches a full-fledged rebuild, trading both Drummond and Griffin might make some sense, but a Griffin deal within the next month appears unlikely, especially if he goes under the knife. The former Clipper still has two seasons left on his contract after 2019/20, with a guaranteed $36.8MM cap charge for ’20/21 and a ’21/22 player option worth nearly $39MM.
Trade Drummond. Trade drose. Shut down blake(surgery or not let him heal up for final 2 years of contract). Play the young kids(Sekou,Bruce brown, svi, c wood, Kennard). Get a top 10 pick this year + 2 other first rounders(one for Drummond one for Rose). Reload next year with young talent getting experience this year with 3 new 1st round picks and hopefully a healthish blake and some cap space
Detroit will be hard pressed to get a 1st for Drummond. Contenders don’t have cap space to take on that contract and I don’t see a lotto team parting with a pick for a soon to be FA center who will want a max offer. As for drose, i would say there is a possibility to extract a late 1st from a contender if they get into a bidding war. But I see him as more of a couple 2nds kind of acquisition
Toronto might do it. They’re going to have a late first, and this draft isn’t great. A late first plus Gasol makes sense for both teams, gives Toronto a chance to get back to the finals, and if Drummond doesn’t re-sign it’s not a big loss. Toronto can just start the rebuild.
Raptors traded away last year’s first in the Kawhi trade and they don’t have another first in 2020, so they cannot trade that pick.
The Raptors can trade their 2020 first-rounder if they want to. The Stepien rule only prevents teams from leaving themselves without a first-rounder in consecutive FUTURE seasons, so what happened with 2019’s pick doesn’t matter now.
My bad, thanks for the clarification.
Yeah but they can get more for Drummond
Add trade for Kyle Kuzma in there.
i agree but the 1st they get back will be in the mid 20s… it might be better to get established role players from other teams and evaluate them. if they dont work out, you can flip them to another team
If he’s healthy, Griffin will be a low risk trade target next spring. Less than two years under contract at that point, and he should still be a good all around big even if he’s not elite at that point.
And if his knees are shot? Van Gundy is banned for life! LOL
I think the reason people want to say “blow it all up” is avoid this kind of public decline of expectations which are predictable enough… (Griffin shows up gimpy, Drummond looks forward to moving, gaps in the lineup).
The FO must rely on other teams making offers.
I really wish Tommy G cared about winning instead of making a profit. You can do both man.
Blow this all up
Winning=profit. No?
He’s a pure business man. The pistons are worth a lot more now then when he took over. He can still make money AND put a winning team on the floor.
Griffin needs that surgery Kobe got. The specialist in Germany or whatever. They’re player Development staff sucks. They originally drafted Middleton and Dinwiddie I believe. Stanley is going to get a second life in Toronto
Middleton, Dinwiddle were traded by Van Gundy. He was also the one who traded for Griffen. Did a horrible job, both as a coach and as the president. Glad that he is gone.