NBA Trade Deadline: Ranking value of 5 stars on the market

1. Blake Griffin

Now, to look at a player who is well and truly at superstar status.

Blake Griffin shouldn’t be traded. Just because the Clippers have a 18-5 record without him (through what has largely been a fairly weak schedule) and their floor spacing has improved with guys like Paul Pierce at the four, it doesn’t mean it’s time for Griffin to go. The bench has always been (and still is) the problem in L.A.. Though as the NBA deadline approaches, it seems as though that’s what the Clippers may address with a huge haul in return for Blake.

Doc Rivers has obviously wanted to put these rumors to rest, and has reiterated that he and the Clippers don’t want to trade their superstar power forward. And he’d be right to say so. Just because the pace slows when Griffin bullies opponents in the post, his mid-range game, stellar ball handling and exceptional passing help the team so much. He can simply dictate an entire offense like no other power forward in the game. Look at his averages of 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game in last year’s playoffs to remember that.

However, no coach is going to admit that they’re trading their superstar. So, even though Doc has said they won’t be trading him, it’s important to address the reports that have surfaced to admit that Griffin leaving L.A. is at least a possibility (albeit a fairly small one).

Zach Lowe of ESPN has discussed that while Doc wants to give his current core a final chance in the playoffs, Griffin isn’t off the table and the Clippers are listening to offers. That alone says an awful lot about how much the certainty of his future there has changed:

"Conflicting noise is spouting from Clipperville, but the smart money is on L.A. waiting until the summer to really get busy on the Griffin front. Doc Rivers wants to give this core one last postseason shot, and the Clips need Griffin just in case Kevin Durant picks them, triggering a Griffin-for-Durant sign-and-trade. But the Griffin noise is real. He’s no longer untouchable. The Clips are listening, even right now, and they’ve rarely listened before. If they get wind over the next four days that they’re out of the Durant sweepstakes, they could accelerate the Griffin trade timetable. It would take a monster offer to pry him away before the draft, but the ground is trembling."

Also, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard has reported, it was the Clippers who offered Griffin to the Denver Nuggets, but they rejected the offer:

"“I’ve been told that the Clips actually called Denver and offered Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson for Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried, Will Barton and Nikola Jokic. And Denver turned it down because Blake will be a free agent after next season and they felt like he may leave, plus they like some of those young kids, they love Jokic.”"

Whether or not these murmurs materialize into Griffin moving is unknown. Trade or no trade, the likelihood has increased and his status as untouchable has changed.

Forget the Clippers’ recent record and the overreactions to the punching incident, though. Of course, the latter was by no means excusable, but Griffin is still one of the top few power forwards in the NBA and can be the center of any franchise in need of him. Besides the way he can carry an entire offense in half court and transition, unlike almost any big man in the league, he’s starting to improve his post defense when he bodies up against opponents or keeps better positioning on pick-and-rolls.

If it wasn’t for his quadriceps injury in December and his latest incident, Griffin could have continued his career year. With 23.2 points on 50.8 percent shooting, 8.7 rebounds and five assists per game prior to injury, he was showcasing exactly what he could do. He can take over a game in so many ways, and that’s why he’s at the top of this list.

Factors like him being in his freakish physical prime at 26 with another two years on his contract just make him even more valuable. It’s just going to take a seriously good offer to get the Clippers to part with him.