Doc Rivers: We’re not trading Blake Griffin
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers squashed any rumors that the team is going to trade Blake Griffin.
Ever since Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin punched an equipment manager and broke his hand, Griffin has been the subject of rampant trade rumors in the NBA. While the notion of trading Griffin seems crazy and far-fetched, the rumors persisted and finally reached a point where head coach Doc Rivers had to address those rumors.
On Tuesday, Griffin took the opportunity to apologize for his actions recently and while Griffin was apologizing, Rivers addressed the trade rumors concerning Griffin. According to the OC Register’s Dan Wolke, Rivers was pretty blunt that the team is not trading Griffin.
Doc Rivers said "We're not trading Blake."
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) February 16, 2016
Griffin being in trade rumors seemed crazy to begin with and Rivers shooting down the rumors is not a surprise. The Clippers are in the stretch run of their season and they feel that when Griffin comes back from injury, that they can compete with any team in the Western Conference.
The Clippers are looking to maximize their success for as long as possible and trading Griffin would have to bring in another superstar in return. Superstar-for-superstar trades are a rare thing and the odds are that the Clippers would never get fair value in return for Griffin.
Rivers and Griffin are very close and the coach has his player’s back. The Clippers aren’t trading Griffin and the rumor can finally be put to rest once and for all.