We’re no detectives. But we’re guessing this isn’t how Blake Griffin drew it up.
Griffin learned Monday night he’d be moving from sunny Los Angeles to (less sunny) Detroit, of all places, as the Clippers sent the five-time All-Star and his $171 million contract to the Pistons in a blockbuster trade that could have significant ripple effects across the league.
Griffin’s departure comes just months after L.A. shamelessly pitched its franchise player to re-sign with the team this summer. We’re talking next-level shameless.
The Clippers held their free agent meeting with Griffin at Staples. They lowered the lights in the arena and raised his jersey to the rafters as a choir sang. The PA announcer said: "Tonight, we’re honoring a lifelong Clipper."
— Lee Jenkins (@ByLeeJenkins) January 29, 2018
Clippers employees wore T-shirt after Blake Griffin's FA meeting likening him to MLK, Obama, Ali, JFK, Lincoln, Gandhi, MJ,Einstein,Mandela. pic.twitter.com/BZtXqhdrWr
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 1, 2017
Apparently, those stunts were just bluster, though, as the Clippers made a business decision to deal Griffin in a move that the 28-year-old had no say in.
Why, you ask? Because the contract Griffin signed this summer didn’t include a no-trade clause. He was eligible for one — a player needs eight-plus years of NBA experience and four years’ experience with his current team to request it — but fought for a fifth year on his contract instead of pursuing the no-trade clause, according to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols.
But after watching Griffin get sent to a Pistons team in purgatory instead of controlling his own destiny, pending free agents might approach the 2018 offseason very differently by insisting on their own no-trade clauses.
The Clippers gave Blake Griffin a crazy-elaborate free agent pitch, even mock-retiring his jersey to the rafters…six months later he's shipped off to Detroit, a team he'd never have even taken a meeting with. Expect every big free agent this summer to demand a no-trade clause.
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) January 30, 2018
Griffin isn’t an anomaly, either. Just ask Isaiah Thomas, who become fan favorite in Boston before the Celtics coolly dealt him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving. The NBA is a business, and teams have proved loyalty plays second fiddle to the best interests of the franchise.
Veteran players are becoming increasingly aware of this trend and could fight to model themselves after the most notable free agent on the market this summer: LeBron James.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star has taken a series of one-year deals with opt-outs and no-trade clauses that essentially give him the flexibility to go wherever he wants, whenever he wants. Carmelo Anthony also used his no-trade clause this summer to leverage the New York Knicks and team up with Russell Westbrook and Paul George on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The list of players who even can request a no-trade clause isn’t long. But the 2018 free agent class is loaded, so expect those who are eligible to fight tooth and nail for control over where they end up next.
