Blake Griffin has only played for the Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career. Now, Griffin will have to get used to a change of pace, as he’s headed to the Detroit Pistons. Reports broke earlier on Monday that the two sides were working on a deal that would send Griffin out East for a package of players, and now, appears to be official.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who broke the news of the talks earlier in the day, broke that the trade is official.
The Clippers have agreed to a deal to send Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 29, 2018
Meanwhile, Shams Charania of The Vertical broke down what the Clippers will get in return for the player who many expected to be the face of their franchise for years to come.
Sources: Clippers, Pistons are finalizing a deal that would send Blake Griffin, Willie Reed for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley and a draft pick. Multiple players involved have been informed of deal.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 29, 2018
Wojnarowski then offered up the full details of the package, as the Clippers will take back Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic and a pair of lightly protected future picks, while the Pistons get Griffin, Willie Reed and Brice Johnson.
The Clippers and Pistons have agreed on a deal to trade Blake Griffin for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, a first-round and a second-round draft pick, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 29, 2018
Clippers are includig Brice Johnson and Willie Reed in the trade, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 29, 2018
Sources: Protections on Detroit's 2018 first-round pick headed to Clippers — 2018: 1-4; 2019: 1-4; 2020: 1-4; 2021: unprotected. Detroit will send a 2019 second-round pick in the trade too.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 29, 2018
The move paves the way for the Clippers to hit free agency in 2019 with a much cleaner cap figure, as Harris ($14.8 million) and Marjanovic ($7 million) both expire after next season while Bradley’s $8.8 million figure expires after this summer. Combined with DeAndre Jordan entering free agency possibly this summer, the Clippers are suddenly in the mix to completely start over with their roster. Reed and Johnson are expiring minimums, but Griffin is owed north of $141 million over the next four years.
Have you checked out the DIME podcast?
[protected-iframe id=”fc3d9fa6146ffd647787c57d142af141-60970621-10222937″ info=”https://omny.fm/shows/the-dime-podcast/episode-17-chopz/embed?style=artwork” width=”100%” height=”180″ frameborder=”0″]
