Yesterday, just as everyone's eyes were all focused on the All-Star stage, the Nets quietly completed a signing to reinforce their relatively weak interior line, and the person who arrived was six-time All-Star Blake Griffin.
Griffin, who is about to turn 32, plays for the Pistons this season, averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 20 games for the Detroit Army, but shooting only 36.5% from the field. Not long ago, he reached a buyout agreement with the Pistons, gave up the $13.3 million salary in the current contract, and became a full free agent, and only the Clippers and Bucks in the whole league could not sign directly with them. Eventually, after a clarification wash, Griffin officially decided to join the Nets on All-Star Game Day.
It is reported that the Nets signed Griffin this time, using the rest of the season's veteran base salary contract, the salary amount of $777,000. Currently, the Nets have a total of $96.19 million in luxury taxes, and they have a $5.7 million injury exception and a $5.4 million middle class exception, but none of them are used this time.
It can be seen that Griffin chose to sign with the Nets for a clear purpose, that is, to win, in order to be able to compete for the championship. After all, his time in Detroit over the past two years has been so bad that in addition to the gloomy injuries and successive defeats, the former flying dunkster has also fallen sharply. A jaw-dropping statistic, as one of the fiercest dunks in NBA history, Griffin has not dunked since December 13, 2019!
But even so, the Nets signed him without any hesitation, harden was even more overjoyed after learning of Griffin's joining at the first time. You know, although the Nets have formed a luxury battleship this season, their internal disadvantages are also obvious, and if they want to compete for the championship, they must try their best to make up for this shortcoming. Previously, Cavaliers interior general Andre Drummond had been rumored to have reached a buyout with the team and then signed with the Nets, as a result, the Brooklyn Legion did not wait for "Zhuang Shen", but came to Griffin.
So, what can Griffin bring to the Nets? According to sources, the Nets intend to make him a substitute and play a center in a small lineup. In recent years, although Griffin's ability has deteriorated seriously, at least the tonnage is still there, as long as the space is stretched enough to create a single opportunity to eat at the wrong position, he can still give some positive feedback. Even if his low-post efficiency is not high, the Nets are a team that has no low-post presence at all, and has only played back 68 times so far this season, accounting for 1.7%, a little higher than the Jazz.
In addition, although Griffin does not dunk now, he can still shoot, averaging 2 three-pointers per game at a 31.5% shooting rate this season, and the Nets' system is better than the Pistons, and the tactics are more efficient and reasonable, while Griffin can shoot 44.2% from three-point range in absolute vacancies (no one defends within 6 feet).
So, part of the low-post offensive creativity, part of the peripheral projection pulling force, and appropriate interspersed to share the pressure for the outside ball carriers, these are the value of Griffin's signing. His ability has long been incomparable to his peak, and integration into the Nets will inevitably mean a comprehensive adjustment to the style of play. But without losing the existing staff, trying to explore some of the unknowns that still exist in Griffin at the cost of the basic salary, this kind of low-risk investment with hidden high returns is both tempting and difficult for any team to refuse.
Then, this joint venture happened. (Sycamore)