Griffin Returned $13.3MM To Pistons To Be Set Free

Blake Griffin gave back $13.3MM in his buyout with the Pistons, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

The buyout agreement was officially announced Friday afternoon by the team and the former All-Star forward has been placed on waivers. He’s expected to clear waivers on Sunday and the Nets have emerged as the frontrunners to sign him, Charania adds.

Griffin hasn’t played since February 12 by mutual agreement with the front office. GM Troy Weaver found it impossible to deal Griffin due to the guaranteed money remaining on his contract. Griffin’s contract initially called for a $36.8MM salary this season, with a $38.96MM option for next season, the final year of the deal.

Out of that $13.3MM giveback, $4.15MM will be applied to the Pistons’ cap this season and $9.15MM will be applied to next season’s cap. The resulting cap hits will be in the neighborhood of $32.7MM and $29.8MM, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. More details on how cap hits are adjusted for buyouts of multiyear contracts can be found on our glossary page.

According to The Athletic’s James Edwards III (Twitter link), the Pistons have chosen not utilize the stretch provision for the money owed Griffin. They’d rather take the cap hit of nearly $30MM next season than hamper their future cap flexibility by stretching it across three years.

Weaver has already used the stretch provision on offseason acquisition Dewayne Dedmon (across five years) and on Zhaire Smith (three years).

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