NBA Power Rankings: Here comes the trade deadline

The Clippers big news continues to be their decision to move on from their franchise power forward and former No. 1 overall draft pick, Blake Griffin, trading the former All-Star to the Detroit Pistons for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, and draft assets. The team had given the star forward a five-year contract in the offseason, but seemed like they had buyers remorse after seeing Griffin suffer another small injury this season. They could have used him against the Portland Trail Blazers, dropping their first game of the week, 104-96. Danilo Gallinari, one of their offseason acquisitions, returned from an injury to score 15 points, but they needed him to score 25 points on that night. They followed that loss up with a win over the hapless Chicago Bulls, showing a glimpse of the future the Clippers brass envision, with ball movement and a scrappy defensive effort helping contribute to the victory.

Moving Griffin is a curious move, and one I don’t agree with. Los Angeles has to hope that they can eventually find a player as good if not better than Griffin, and that’s not guaranteed. While this trade creates cap space and flexibility for them, last time I checked, neither of those two things can put the ball in the hoop or grab a rebound. They’ll need to find Griffin’s replacement, because it certainly isn’t Tobias Harris, no matter how well he’s been playing this season.