Brooklyn Nets: 3 buyout candidates the team needs to avoid
By Mike Luciano
No. 1: PF Blake Griffin, Detroit Pistons
Griffin might not be the high-flying showstopper that he was with the Los Angeles Clippers, but his recent All-Star season in Detroit had head coach Dwane Casey figuring that he could develop into a quality face-up big man with a lethal three-point shot. While he had some success at first, injuries have ruined Griffin.
He’s only played in 38 games since the start of last season, and one of the great dunkers of all time hasn’t dunked since the 2019 campaign. Griffin is averaging just 12.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, all the while putting up the worst shooting performance of his career. Griffin’s value has never been lower.
Griffin is a shell of his former self, and wouldn’t help the Nets.
With the Pistons rebuilding and in need of younger players to step up, they have agreed to sit Griffin until they figure out how to dump him. With his offensive skills as a penetrator and shooter diminishing and his defensive value nonexistent, there is almost nothing that Griffin could bring to the Nets in a featured role.
If it was 2016, the Nets should do whatever it takes to get a player like Griffin.
However, in 2021, Griffin has been robbed of the athleticism that made him such a lethal player on both ends of the floor. Paying a ton of money for a declining spot-up shooter who isn’t even shooting the ball well would be classed as a very risky decision.
