76ers among contenders who could use Blake Griffin if he gets bought out
Many people have deemed Blake Griffin the most untradable player in the NBA, and for good reason.
His contract is truly massive, with $36.6 million owed for the 2020-21 season and a $38.9 million player option due for 2021-22 that he'd be crazy to opt out of. He looked like a completely different player from the dunking machine we had grown used to over the past decade — especially considering he hasn't dunked a single time in two years — before the Pistons eventually decided to bench him for good in mid-February while they weigh their options regarding his future.
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But just because he's probably untradable doesn't mean he's going to stay in Detroit. The Pistons will most likely have to settle on a buyout for Griffin, as it would help to unload at least some of his salary from their books next season, and he's not serving any purpose by sitting on the bench every game. A buyout certainly wouldn't be great for the Pistons, seeing as they'd have to pay a huge sum of money to a player they don't have just to get rid of him, but that's what a number of executives see as a likelier outcome than a trade.
Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus said on the latest episode of the "RADIO.COM NBA Show" that he'd be "stunned" if the Pistons found a trade partner, but theorized and explained the pathway where a buyout could potentially come to fruition.
"Let's say that his agent can line up mid-level money next year... and let's say that he can make a million if he signed for the minimum the rest of the season, the rest of the way. So we're talking about $11 million over the next two years," Pincus said. "So if he said to the Pistons, 'I'll take off $11 million from what you owe me,' would they then cut him and eat his money this year, which is about $37 (million)... but really the question is that $39 million of which some would come off of that buyout, but not all, and they would potentially stretch that money out over multiple seasons.
"It's something they did with Dewayne Dedmon, and, by the way, [this is] the team that more or less pioneered that move of cutting massive salary over multiple years with Josh Smith some years back. In fact, they just finished paying out on the books Josh Smith's contract last year. So you can at least argue that this is a team that has new management, they're clearly not afraid to stretch as they just stretched Dedmon. They have done it historically. And they are ready to turn the page and there isn't the pressure to win right now. They're fully embracing the rebuild..."
So, for what it's worth, there's at least a foreseeable path to a buyout despite the inherent feeling that eating so much dead money probably isn't the smartest move.
And just because he's untradable doesn't mean he's unusable, either. He's well past his prime — I'd think, barring a surprise renaissance — and has been a net negative for the Pistons the past two seasons, but he's also only two years removed from an All-Star campaign marked by 24.5 PPG production, even with his transition into a perimeter scorer well under way. For a playoff team who needs veteran leadership, a stretch big with a versatile skill set, and some general depth to the rotation, Griffin should be an intriguing option, especially given that his pay from the Pistons following a buyout would negate the need to spend a significant amount of money on him.
Again, I want to reiterate that I don't think any of these teams should or would trade for him — most of them wouldn't realistically be able to match that salary, anyway — but if a buyout ultimately goes through and he hits the open market, there are plenty of title-seeking contenders that could use him to their benefit.
All stats retrieved from Basketball Reference.
