The Los Angeles Clippers trading Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons was a stunner in itself, but the trade return made the blockbuster deal even more of a head-scratcher.
The Clippers received some nice pieces in the trade, including Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley and Detroit’s 2018 first-round draft pick. But for a player of Griffin’s caliber, many believed L.A. could have received more. While this might be the case, it doesn’t appear to be due to a lack of trying from the Clippers, as reported by ESPN’s Royce Young.
Speaking on The Hoop Collective podcast, Young explained that Los Angeles tried to swing a monster trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“I mean, I know they made calls to Oklahoma City for Paul George,” Young said on The Hoop Collective podcast. “I’m pretty sure they made calls to Minnesota for players, so I mean, like, they tried to get some bigger name players. It just wasn’t happening.”
This rumored Clippers-Thunder trade is an interesting one, to say the least. It doesn’t seem as though Oklahoma City has made George available for trade, but the star forward’s expiring contract would lead one to believe it would at least entertain the idea. Not to mention, Griffin is an Oklahoma native and played collegiately with the Sooners.
But with the Thunder finally starting to find a groove with their big three of George, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, it makes sense why OKC would want to stand pat.
