he stars might not be aligning for a Blake Grifin-Boston Celtics reunion next season.
Griffin made his debut run in Boston, signed as a reserve unit veteran role addition to provide an experienced locker room voice. Those boxes were all checked, albeit with the sacrifice of Griffin playing a career-low 13.9 minutes in 41 appearances. Yet, that never rattled Griffin who’s since embraced the “unbelievable” Celtics experience as a free agent this offseason.
However, that won’t guarantee a return for the six-time All-Star.
“The Celtics would likely welcome a return by veteran big man Blake Griffin
who played last year and was a strong locker room presence, but for now that appears unlikely as Griffin considers his future, the source said,” according to Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
Similar to last offseason, in which Griffin agreed to a one-year, $2.9 million deal, the market value hasn’t changed. With Summer League in the rearview mirror and preseason action approaching, Griffin still remains unsigned.
The 34-year-old showed scattered flashes of being useful outside the locker room, but when the playoffs rolled around, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t lean to Griffin at all. Then again, that didn’t seem to be a problem to him as sacrifice was an ongoing trend that saw various team members taking a backseat — including Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard and even Malcolm Brogdon.
“Our bigs were pretty thin,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said, per Brian Robb of MassLive. “When (Robert Williams III) was out at the start of the year, those guys that played in his place did an amazing job of keeping us afloat. Blake was as good as it gets both on and off the court.”
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At this point, with Boston’s starting lineup seemingly falling into place, especially after the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis, the case can be made for Griffin. Therefore, the thoughts of Lob-City-like slams might not be completely out of the question just yet.
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