Multiple Time "Blake Of The Year" Winner Blake Griffin Is Now Officially A Member Of The Boston Celtics
Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.
Whenever I see my phone has a notification from Woj/Shams/Haynes/etc, I have a routine. Immediately, I scan the tweet and look for the words "Boston Celtics". I'm not even really reading what the tweet says, I just quickly scan for that "B" and "C". If I don't see it, there's an immediate exhale and I go back and read what the tweet actually says. If I do find those words in the tweet, my heart drops. I force myself to re-read the tweet as I hope for the best.
Lately, these Woj/Shams bombs have not been what I would call….good. Every one for the last month or so has been gut punch after gut punch so you can only imagine what my heart/brain/entire body did when this tweet came across my phone this morning. I saw the "B" and the "C" and braced for something terrible. Maybe someone got hurt in practice, maybe there was new Ime news, everything was on the table as far as I was concerned.
Nope, they signed Blake Griffin to a guaranteed deal.
EXHALE.
Now let's all get on the same page when it comes to Blake Griffin. This is not Lob City Blake. It's not even early Pistons years Blake. It might not even be Year 1 in BKN Blake. But remember what we're talking about here. This is an end of the bench, probably won't have to play all that much role. Everyone with a brain knows the Celts need frontcourt depth and that's what Blake provides. Plus, he just had some moments against the Celts in their playoff series!
I'll also have you know that Blake Griffin led the entire NBA in 2021-22 in charges drawn at 26 in 56 games played. He now joins a roster that already has Derrick White (3rd) and Marcus Smart (11th) which seems pretty good. If he can also find that outside shot we saw in 2020-21 when he was a member of the Nets (38%) then that's even better.
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When you looked at the free agent landscape of reserve bigs, it was always going to be someone either with flaws or someone that was kind of old and washed up. You may as well take the risk with a guy who is only 32 years old and played under 1,000 minutes last year. It's funny that once Gallo went out and then Rob went down that the team kept releasing statements about how they were going to handle the frontcourt depth internally, only to then go out and bring in someone from the outside. This is what we have to accept with Brad. He's never going to tell us what he's doing or what he has up his sleeve. He operates in silence. Can you find a leak about the Celts being interested in Blake? Nope. You sure can't. Every single move Brad has ever made as GM of this team has come without a single leak that he was even interested in that player.
Here's all I need from Blake this season. Whenever he's on the floor as long as you give me good energy, solid defense, and the occasional open three, I'm happy. There literally isn't really a downside to a move like this. It didn't cost much to get him, the Celts didn't give up any draft capital, he fills a position of need and is a guy that players seem to love to have around. It's not the first time he could have chosen Boston but he wanted to ring chase with the Nets instead. That obviously failed miserably and he clearly smartened up and realized that if he wants to win a title, the Celts are a great option given their sudden need for his services.
I will say though, what if we get this guy?
That'd be a pretty big deal right? At the very least, the Celts are going to have a proven NBA player with legit experience to help with their depth. I've been saying all summer they needed that, even if you believe in Luke Kornet/Kab. You can do both! You can play those guys and also sure up your depth. Clearly, Brad agreed with me the whole time. That's not surprising, we practically share a brain.
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So I'd like to welcome Blake Griffin to the Boston Celtics. Took him long enough to finally get here, but I'm happy to have him. Now let's get to work.