How to blow up the Los Angeles Clippers

Blake Griffin

Injuries have robbed us of ever seeing what Griffin could’ve been at his best. Since 2014, Griffin has suffered eight different injuries ranging from his hand to his toe. While his ceiling might not reach as high, he is still one of the better power forwards in the league today and will definitely be looking to be paid like it.

Griffin has seen his name routinely attached to the Thunder for several years. A return to his hometown would make for a great story, however, I think it’s another Midwestern state that could be best suited for him — Blake’s second act as an NBA player should take place with the Nuggets.

Last summer, the Nuggets nearly recruited Dwyane Wade to join them as a free agent, but not getting the three-time champion to sign on the dotted line might’ve been the best outcome for them. Instead, we got to watch their young prospects grow and develop. They nearly snatched the eighth seed away from the Trail Blazers this year.

Nikola Jokic has become the latest member of the Unicorn club and matching him with a player like Griffin would give them a dynamic front court (that would be little underwhelming defensively). Both Jokic and Griffin are great passers and can facilitate the offense. Surround them with shooters like Gary Harris, Jamal Murray and Juan Hernangomez and it’s tough for opponents to find a satisfying way to defend that team.

Denver has tried many players next to Jokic up front (Jusuf Nurkic, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee) and Griffin is like the Million Dollar Man version of that fivesome. He brings the interior scoring of Nurkic, the outside shooting of Gallinari — Gallo has shot an average of 36.9 percent on 3-pointers the last three seasons and Griffin has shot 35.6 percent over that same stretch, albeit on far fewer attempts — the ball handling and athleticism of Chandler, the rebounding ability of Faried and the passing of Plumlee.

The Nuggets are a few pieces away from being a contender, adding Griffin gets them as close as they’ve been since Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony donned the light blue, yellow gold, navy and white.