Blake Griffin Expected To Be Targeted By Boston Celtics In NBA Free Agency


The Boston Celtics are expected to be players in NBA free agency this offseason, and Los Angeles Clippers’s power forward Blake Griffin appears to be one of their targets. Blake Griffin is the type of player who can help put the Boston Celtics over the Cleveland Cavaliers due to his ability to play an all-around game.

Whether or not the Celtics can pry Griffin away from the Clippers remains a mystery. But Blake Griffin possibly signing with the Celtics is an NBA rumor worth paying attention to.

The Boston Celtics have long been rumored as a team interested in Blake Griffin. Last summer, Sean Deveney of Sporting News reported that the Celtics were one of the teams trying to engage the Los Angeles Clippers in trade talks.

Those talks stalled as it was believed that the returns were not good enough for the team to accept. The Clippers saw themselves as a potential threat to the Golden State Warriors. They were not going to give Griffin away.

Since he has a player option worth $21.3 million, Griffin can enter NBA free agency as one of the most sought-after players in the summer. It is being divulged by Bleacher Report that the Boston Celtics are planning to recruit Griffin, along with Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward. NBA teams can begin talking with potential free agents on July 1.

Blake Griffin can help the Boston Celtics get past the Cleveland Cavaliers if he signs a multi-year deal in NBA free agency. [Image by Harry How/Getty Images]

How Blake Griffin would fit with Boston is an interesting question. He is a power forward, who likes to stretch floor whenever he can.

Truthfully, the Clippers’ star is a more dynamic player than the Celtics’ last offseason’s free agency splash, Al Horford. Blake Griffin is a far superior scorer and a better rebounder. Neither Griffin nor Horford can play effective minutes at the center position throughout a game.

Offensively, both players can hold their own, but on defense, they can be worn down by teams who play a more physical game of basketball. Griffin is a slightly bigger player, but his perimeter game negates just about anything he can do in the low post.

Horford’s game has almost completely become perimeter-oriented on offense. Occasionally, he will look to score inside the paint, but he is primarily a face-up shooter. Can the Boston Celtics live with two frontcourt players who are jump shooters?

To offset the possibility of a Blake Griffin and Al Horford pairing, the Boston Celtics would also need to acquire a rim-protector. What the Celtics do in the latter part of the NBA draft could offer a clue is to what direction they will truly go in.

For the Celtics, it would not matter which frontcourt position the shot-blocker played. As long as he can alter shots and disallow teams from attacking the basket, it would help the Celtics in the long run. There will be some opposing teams who will challenge Isaiah Thomas’ 5-foot-9 frame. A feared rim-protector would keep the offense on the perimeter where the Celtics were one of the best in the NBA this past season.

Ironically, the Clippers’ De’Andre Jordan is a better fit for the Boston Celtics given what he does.

Isaiah Thomas needs some help on offense as well. Blake Griffin would be a great centerpiece to play alongside Thomas. Griffin can handle the basketball better than most guards, which would allow Thomas to play off the ball some more. This would make the Boston Celtics a dangerous team if they can sign him.

What will help determine things is Gordon Hayward. Hayward was a former college player of Celtics’ coach Brad Stevens while he was at Butler. It could come down to which player wants to sign first. Contract negotiations could drag out with Blake Griffin, leaving the Boston Celtics to look elsewhere.

[Featured Image by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images]

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