Blake Griffin seems like a Hollywood kind of player and he seems to be a perfect fit in Los Angeles.
There were rumors that he would be traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Kevin Durant in a sign-and-trade deal. He was supposedly the ideal candidate because he could re-sign with the Thunder, citing hometown ties.
But there are also observers who notice that Griffin has fully embraced the Hollywood lifestyle with his numerous TV ads and appearances. With that in mind, it seems like he's a lock to stay, especially with these statements from Doc Rivers in a recent appearance on The Vertical podcast with Adrian Wojnarowski (h/t Jay King of Mass Live).
"It's funny, like, you don't want to go out and send out a press release every time there's a rumor about Blake. We are hoping Blake ends his career playing for the Clippers. Period. So when teams call we say we have no interest. First of all, no team's calling right now because teams know we don't have any interest," Rivers was quoted.
He also took notice of the Boston Celtics rumors that blew up early this month and his son traced it to a Boston radio personality (correct!). He also said he talked with Danny Ainge with "one (conversation) was about the British Open, and one was about another golf tournament. That's about it."
Since the Clippers are not trading him, it seems like Griffin is a Clipper for life, right? But Griffin has a player option at the end of the 2016-17 season that would make him a free agent and he is expected to jump on the chance because of the money involved.
The Clippers are at a crossroads. Two of their stars, Griffin and Chris Paul could both leave. They have DeAndre Jordan under contract and not much young talent in the pipeline. Even if they stay, Paul will be 32 years old at that time which is considerably old for a point guard.
Enter the LA Lakers with a developing young core. The Clippers may be dominant now and the Lakers at the cellar, but they could be heading in different directions.
The Lakers would do well not to make a trade but they have compromised their cap flexibility with their signings (Timofey Mozgov, Luol Deng). Still, they can still execute trades and waive to carve out two max contracts. The presumption is that one of them would be Russell Westbrook. Could Blake Griffin be the other?