The Grip -- Tues, 1.30.18

Detroit, where comedy dreams go to die

January 30, 2018

1.30.18

LAST NIGHT'S SCORESPacers 105, Hornets 96Hawks 105, Timberwolves 100Bucks 107, 76ers 95Grizzlies 120, Suns 109Heat 95, Mavericks 88Celtics 111, Nuggets 110

 Blake Griffin, you have been duped   

A necessary preface: Blake Griffin is very, very rich. Between the beginning of this year and 2022, he will have pocketed more than $170 million in NBA salary alone. No matter what, his life is fine and he is a wealthy man. But g-o-o-d-n-e-s-s! did the Los Angeles Clippers do this man dirty. Here are the full details, as reported by the scoop-tastic Adrian Wojnarowski: L.A. GETS: 

  • Avery Bradley

  • Tobias Harris

  • Boban Marjanovic

  • A 2018 first round pick, protected for picks No. 1-4

  • A 2019 second round pick. 

DE-TROIT BASKETBALL GETS: 

  • Blake Griffin

  • A guy you’ve never heard of 

  • Another guy you’ve never heard of 

According to Woj, these trade talks actually materialized six days ago, but accelerated yesterday afternoon and became official a few hours later. This summer, when Griffin was an unrestricted free agent for the first time, he essentially could have picked any team in the league to play for. But the Clippers woo-ed him with an indulgent recruiting pitch, including a pretend number retirement ceremony, and he decided five more years on a decent team in a beautiful city while making more than $30 million a season wasn’t so bad. Well, hopefully he likes economic depression, Little Caesars pizza, hockey, Jim Harbaugh, Matthew Stafford and bad weather, because he has four more years remaining after this one and no leverage to ask for or force a trade. (That first one was harsh. Detroit ain’t so bad.)For L.A., this rings as an obvious white flag to an interesting but futile season. It was also a low-key genius way to shed a debilitating contract while getting some decent pieces in return, though Avery Bradley is a free agent after this season and seems unlikely to stay in L.A. The Clippers could have lost him for nothing last summer. Instead, they’ll get a decent first round pick this summer, a good scorer in Tobias Harris, and the cult of personality that is Boban. Detroit now has a star in Griffin, and they have him for the foreseeable future. If this all works out for the Pistons, it could look like a no-brainer in a few years. And while the Motor City is no L.A., Detroit has a fanbase, three titles, five NBA Finals appearances, retired numbers, the creation of Dennis Rodman and an iconic era under its belt. The Clippers, meanwhile, have never made it to the conference finals.  If Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, John Salley, Grant Hill, Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace all made it work, maybe Griffin can, too. At the very least, it’ll be great fodder for his stand up comedy career. 

Turmoil in Cleveland

The Cavaliers’ annual midseason slump is going on longer than usual, and people are starting to worry. Here are just a few reasons why:

  • The front office is aggressively trying to trade for another guard (George Hill or Kemba Walker)

  • Isaiah Thomas looks sluggish, almost like a player who had surgery on his hip six months ago

  • LeBron James’ endorsement of Ty Lue: I hope they don’t fire him

  • They have the second worst defensive rating in the league, behind only the Kings

  • The team recently held a team meeting, the point being to chastise Kevin Love, arguably their second best player

Despite this chaos, we still expect them to put on their big boy shoes, troubleshoot this situation and make it to the Finals to get swept by Golden State.

The Knicks officially suck again

Why does this story sound so familiar?

A month ago, the New York Knicks beat Boston, had a 17-14 record, and looked like a team ready to show the world that a post-Carmelo Anthony squad could be different.

Since then, they’ve lost 12 of 17 games and look lost. They run a predictable, stagnant fourth quarter offense, constantly resorting to isolation hero ball efforts by Beasley, Porzingis or Hardaway Jr. It looks at points like Anthony never left.

Kristaps Porzingis is tired (he admits as much), as seen in his low shooting efficiency and his gradual decline in points per game. The Knicks also struggle on the road, winning just seven of the 24 games played so far away from The Garden.

They are currently in tenth place and out of the playoffs. The teams in the sixth, seventh and eighth seeds (Bucks, Pacers and 76ers, respectively) are better teams that deserve to be there.

The silver lining: Joakim Noah got in a fight with Hornacek and is now trying to shop himself out of New York.

The copper lining: After this season, he’s still owed $34 million over the next two years. Phil Jackson, everyone.

          This, from a few nights ago:

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  • A complete guide to the NBA trade deadline -- which is at 3 p.m. on Feb. 8 -- by Kevin O’Connor. [Tap Here]

  • An ode to Boogie by Nathaniel Friedman. [Tap Here]

  • Zach Lowe nails the Blake Griffin trade:“A word on loyalty: The Clippers went out of their way to label Griffin a "Clipper for life." As I first revealed here, the preamble to their free agency pitch meeting involved walking Griffin through a makeshift museum of his life and then retiring his number -- literally raising it to the rafters as music played in an empty Staples Center -- in a staged "ceremony." (They obviously took the banner down and stored it somewhere.) Five months later, he's gone without a say."To read more, Tap Here.

 A LOOK AHEAD Here are the must-see games of the week. 

TUESDAY, 1/30The Minnesota Timberwolves (32-21) visit the Toronto Raptors (33-15).7:30 PM EST WEDNESDAY, 1/31The Miami Heat (29-21) visit the Cleveland Cavaliers (29-19) in a battle for third place.7:30 PM EST