- I’ve got a piece up at ESPN.com intended for general consumption: “Even if Griffin has a ceiling, the Clippers took their first step back to respectability in nearly a year. Griffin is a charismatic, appealing jokester with a wide-ranging presence. The inside-out threat he and guard Eric Gordon could present could be devastating. Griffin, unlike the stoic Gordon, has the capacity to make the team his, a responsibility Baron came to realize he didn’t want to endure. And someone — anyone — needs to translate capacity into desire for the Los Angeles Clippers.”
- From John Hollinger’s pen to [enter preferred deity here]‘s ears: “LA’s other team managed to keep itself in the news by winning the Griffin sweepstakes, but now attention immediately turns to how they’ll juggle the frontcourt. The obvious solution would be to trade Randolph, but he has two years and $33 million left on his deal and he’s one of the league’s most difficult personalities. That shrivels the market for him to just a few teams, even if the Clippers are willing to take back bad contracts in return. (A lot of clubs won’t touch the guy at any price.) But it’s hard to imagine the Clips playing Randolph and Griffin together, since both are natural power forwards and Randolph won’t do jack on defense. So trading one of the other frontcourt players (Camby or Kaman, most likely) doesn’t really solve the problem — it has to be Randolph. One would also have to think the Clippers are desperate to provide a better role model for Griffin than Z-Bo, a gifted post scorer on the court but a scoundrel off it. So where they can possibly offload Randolph? A few places, actually. A deal with Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson would work, providing the Bucks more post scoring and a replacement for likely goner Charlie Villanueva. However, the Bucks supposedly deep-sixed a deal for Randolph when he was a Knick and might turn their noses up at this idea too. A few other partners come to mind. Golden State could even out its roster at a stroke by sending Jamal Crawford and Corey Maggette to the Clips, and we know they won’t ask Zach to play any D. Memphis is desperate for a power forward and could do a deal for Marko Jaric, Darko Milicic and the Grizzlies’ pick at No. 27. And Chicago, which really needs a post scorer to get to the next level, could make it work for Brad Miller and Tim Thomas … a deal that doesn’t really solve the Clippers’ frontcourt logjam, but does achieve the aim of ridding the team of Randolph. All of this gets back to one simple NBA truth — there is no such thing as an untradable contract. Every player has his price, and it’s tough for the Clippers to make a deal that replaces Randolph’s production because so many teams see him as radioactive. But if the Clips lower the bar to just clearing the deck for Griffin, they can make it work.”
- Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress: “The Clippers may or may not deserve the top pick depending on your perspective, but there is no question that they will put it to good use, by immediately adding a potential all-star and franchise caliber talent at the power forward position. Considering how selfish, lethargic and disinterested they looked last season, Griffin could be exactly what Coach Mike Dunleavy needs in order to save his job.”
- If you haven’t read Kevin Pelton’s superb analysis of Griffin’s game against UNC in the NCAA tournament, it’s well worth your time: “Griffin’s gaudy scoring and rebounding totals are legitimate, and surely will translate to the NBA level, but they are not enough. As plus-minus analysis has tended to show us, these “intangibles” that don’t show up in the box score can be crucially important to teams. To achieve the greatness predicted for him, Griffin will have to develop the rest of his game. Fortunately, the weaknesses that showed up in paying close attention to Griffin’s performance are ones that can be improved upon. I think he’s got the ability to become a credible screener and at least average as a help and pick-and-roll defender. Surely, whichever team ends up landing the top pick in next month’s NBA Draft Lottery will be hoping for just that result.”
