Thirteen months ago, the Los Angeles Clippers famously traded Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons. It was a stunning move, coming six months after Griffin signed a super-max contract with LA; franchise leaders had sold Griffin on being a “Clipper for life.”
The Clippers had salvaged the departure of Chris Paul by sending CP3 to Houston in a sign-and-trade. That rebuilt the Clippers with an interesting roster, led by Griffin, with center DeAndre Jordan still Griffin’s sidekick. The Clippers were 25-24, hanging tough in ninth place in the Western Conference, when they traded Griffin.
Detroit sent Griffin, Brice Johnson and Willie Reed to the Clippers, who got Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, a first-round draft pick and a 2019 second-round pick.