The NBA trade rumors host some big names and one of them was rather late for the party: Blake Griffin.
After the tumultuous incident, the knee-jerk reaction of the media was to speculate on Griffin being traded. While Doc Rivers made the expected denials, there are still solid sources who insist that Griffin could be on the move. One of the latest declarations came from Zach Lowe of ESPN.
"But the Griffin noise is real," Lowe wrote in his latest column. "He's no longer untouchable. The Clips are listening, even right now, and they've rarely listened before. If they get wind over the next four days that they're out of the Durant sweepstakes, they could accelerate the Griffin trade timetable. It'd take a monster offer to pry him away before the draft, but the ground is trembling."
Any talk of a Blake Griffin trade would have been ridiculed a month ago, but more than the incident, the realization that the Clippers could be a good, if not better team without him could have made Doc Rivers reconsider.
The Clippers are not under pressure to trade Griffin, but if they could get the piece that would be a better long term fit, they would listen. According to Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider, one better fit can be found in the Atlanta Hawks.
"Right now, Millsap is a better fit for the Clippers and maybe a better player than Griffin," Doolittle declared. "He would give them better range at the 4 and enhanced ability to match up with Golden State down the line. Given the four-year age difference, the Hawks would need to add a sweetener, and Mike Scott would provide depth, shooting and experience for the Clippers' playoff run."
For the Hawks side, they are ready to consider blowing up their core to build a new team. While Millsap, their best player this year, was not one of the names being tossed around, if he would be the key to acquiring a difference maker like Griffin, they would probably cave in.
"Meanwhile, Griffin would provide Atlanta a younger star to pair with Dennis Schroder and Kent Bazemore going forward," Doolittle illustrated. "And the Hawks could still package Jeff Teague and Al Horford for more young players to fill out their revamped core, such as a combination of guys from the Celtics."
This could be the blockbuster trade of the deadline or even the offseason. The trade rumors for Blake Griffin will most likely persist.