On January 29th, 2018 the Detroit Pistons traded for Blake Griffin in a blockbuster trade with the Clippers, pairing him with Andre Drummond. They made the playoffs in 2019, being swept by the Bucks in the first round. On February 6th, 2020 the Pistons traded Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin were sent home from each of their teams over the weekend so they can be traded or bought out. Why? What led to these situations? What are possible destinations for these players?
Let’s start with the why. Why did the Pistons and Cavs decide to part with the former stars? Let’s go back to the Drummond trade to the Cavaliers. Andre Drummond was traded to Cleveland for Brandon Knight, John Henson, and a 2023 second round pick, both Knight and Henson are out of the league. Andre Drummond is an excellent rebounder and low post offensive player and that's about all he does well on a basketball court. He can’t stretch the floor and he does not defend very well. As a result, Cleveland made another trade in January, sending Dante Exum, a 2022 first round pick (via the Bucks) to Houston for Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince (they also sent 2 second round picks to Indiana) in the James Harden blockbuster trade. Allen is a 22 year old center who is an excellent defender and fits better with the timeline of Colin Sexton and Darius Garland, also known as Sexland, this made Drummond expendable. However, his $28.7 million salary is not easy to trade as a team needs to get to about $23 million with the 125% rule, which allows teams to acquire 125% of the salary they are sending out in a trade. This makes a trade with a team like the Toronto Raptors hard because they do not have the contracts to send back to Cleveland to make the money work without trading Chris Boucher or Norman Powell, both players that are very important to their team. Blake Griffin may be even harder to trade.
Griffin is due $36.6 million this season and $39 million next season on a player option. That adds up to $75.6 million over the next 2 seasons. This is all for a guy who was known for dunking and has not dunked since 2019. He is averaging 12.3 points per game this season on 36% shooting from the field. Detroit has better options at the forward positions rookie Saddiq Bey and newbie Jerami Grant, who is having a breakout season. So Blake is on the outside looking in. The Pistons stink and Griffin is not helping them. When the Pistons acquired Griffin from LA, they were in a completely different situation. They were on the outside looking in on the playoffs and wanted to get into the playoffs, they did not in the half season they had Blake, but in his first full season in Detroit, Blake averaged a career high 24.5 points a night and was an All-Star. The Pistons would make the playoffs but as I previously mentioned, they were promptly swept by Milwaukee, a series Griffin only played 2 games and injuries derailed for him. The next year injuries, a very common theme of Blake’s career, limited Griffin to just 18 games. Blake Griffin’s scoring numbers have cut in half since his all-star season, and the 8-20 Pistons have paid dearly for that.
What are possible destinations for these players? Let’s start with Andre Drummond. Drummond is in the final year of a 5-year max extension he signed with the Pistons in 2016. He is due $28.7 million. There are not many contracts from that wild summer left leading most teams to have to trade players that are important to their team and that might be better than Drummond. This makes a trade very complicated for teams like the Toronto Raptors, as I previously mentioned. One team that does have the contracts to get a deal done is the Miami Heat. Now you may think they have Bam Adebayo, yes they do and yes he is better than Drummond, but Andre Drummond would not take minutes away from Bam. Drummond can rebound really well and score in the post really well. Miami could use him as a specialist and fill in when Adebayo is out. A trade would look like Kelly Olynyk, Myers Leonard, and Moe Harkless for Drummond. All Cleveland would need to do to clear roster space is waive former Kansas State star Dean Wade. The Players Miami is giving up are not integral to Miami’s success and Drummond could play a very good role for a team that desperately needs wins.
As I also previously stated, Griffin may be harder to trade. He is due $39 million next season so you have to find someone to take that. One team that might be willing is the Chicago Bulls. Lauri Markkanen is a free agent, restricted yes, but still looking to get paid. This new Chicago front office has shown no signs of attachment to Markkanen and why would they committee a 3 or 4 year contract worth above $20 million per year to a player they are not committed to? A trade is simple as well, you send the expiring contracts of Otto Porter Jr., and Cristiano Felicio to Detroit for Griffin, hope he can get back to a mark of 18 points per game next season and go from there. If he does not, you simply cut bait by either letting him walk in free agency, trading him, or even buying him out next season. So if the Bulls new President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas decides to move on from Markkanen, the replacement is for the taking.
Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond have played as teammates and are now connected again. Griffin is a player who’s game has completely changed from an athletic freak to a player who stretches the floor. Drummond is a player who needs to evolve if he wants to stick around the league for a long time. Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond have both have had very successful NBA careers and both have a lot of ball left in the tank but their futures don’t belong with the team they are with currently.
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