NBA Trade Rumors: 3 Big-name trade targets the Washington Wizards should avoid
By Ethan Smith
Trade Target to Avoid #2: Blake Griffin
The Washington Wizards already have Russell Westbrook. They don’t need another aging, past-his-prime, former All-Star whose game was once built around a now lost explosiveness.
Blake Griffin is having the worst season of his career (12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 36.5 percent fg), and the Pistons — who are hanging out with the Wizards at the bottom of the Eastern Conference — are reading the writing on the wall. It’s time to go young. And Griffin, a 31-year-old former All-NBA forward, doesn’t fit into that forward-looking plan. He doesn’t fit into the Wizards’ plans either! The Wizards said repeatedly last offseason that they didn’t want to mortgage their future. A trade for Griffin, in which the Wizards would immediately get older and probably lose a few young pieces in the process (whether they be players, picks, or both), would hinder the Wizards’ ability to build a team moving forward, and handcuff the team to a pair of aging superstars with massive contracts.
Blake Griffin is making $36.6 million this season and has a player option worth $39 million next season. The Wizards already owe Westbrook $44 million and Beal $34.5 million next season. Add in Griffin’s money, and good luck building anything around that. This trio would have been incredible in 2016, but it’s not 2016.