Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin. (Photo : Getty Images)
Recent reports have emerged that the Los Angeles Clippers have offered All-Star power forward Blake Griffin and small forward Lance Stephenson to the Nuggets in exchange for Nikola Jokic, Will Barton, Danilo Gallinari, and Kenneth Faried, but Denver quickly turned it down.
Jokic, Faried, and Gallinari basically represent the Nuggets' starting front line while Barton is the team's sixth man, which explains why Mike Malone and company had reportedly rejected the Clips' proposal right away.
Dan Feldman of NBC Sports' Pro Basketball Talk noted that some reports went out saying that it was Denver who approached LA and it was the latter who declined the offer. However, he cited ESPN's Chris Broussard, who said that it was really the other way around.
Feldman said that "it would have made sense for the Clippers to make that offer" as they are getting younger (except for Gallinari) and less injury-prone players who have tons of potential in exchange for two players whose reputations are slowly getting tarnished because of their off-court embarrassments.
LA would have gotten everything that the team needs at this moment: a versatile small forward who can also play the stretch four to "provide spacing", a hard-working rebounder who can also catch lobs from Chris Paul, one of the best big man rookies in this class south of Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porzingis, and a substitute, high-flying wingman that could definitely contribute more than every no. 3 player in Doc Rivers' current roster.
The same thing could be said for Denver in reverse, though, as Feldman observed that the Nuggets will be giving "too much" for such trade scenario.
Another potential problem that the Nuggets could face in the future is when Griffin becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017. There are no guarantees that the five-time All-Star would like to re-sign with them when that time comes.
The only advantage Denver could get from this deal is to draw back fans for the ball club. The Big Lead indicated that the Nuggets are "dead last in the NBA in attendance" this season and they could use Griffin's star power to get up from that position.
