On January 30th of 2018, the Detroit Pistons bet big. In a trade with the L.A. Clippers,
Detroit acquired Blake Griffin. Twenty-eight years-old, with five All-Star appearances
to his name at the time of the trade, Griffin became arguably the Piston’s first star-calibre
player in his prime since legendary point guard Isiah Thomas.
Yet, Griffin has always been one of the NBA’s greatest enigmas. A player whose name carried
a sterling reputation, but whose production always seemed to leave just a little something
to be desired. With the Pistons, Griffin’s legacy is taking shape more clearly, and yet,
he remains enigmatic.
During his early years with the Clippers, Griffin was a rim-rattling, dunk machine. But as his years in L.A. wore on, this exciting athlete began to gradually shift into a different type of player. With the Pistons, we are now seeing Griffin at the peak of a career evolution rarely seen from players of his calibre. Griffin is essentially the team’s offensive hub. When he’s on the floor, the Pistons offensive rating is a respectable 107.2. But when Griffin sits, that number dips to a ghastly 99.8 -- a mark that would be almost three points behind the league-worst Memphis Grizzlies. And the way he’s creating that impact is completely different from the early days of his career.
In the 2010-11 season in L.A., 17.6 percent of Griffin’s shot attempts were dunks. This year in Detroit, Griffin has only dunked 3.4 percent of his shots. What’s even more interesting about that decline is that according to the NBA’s Player Tracking data, Griffin is driving toward the basket more than ever in his career -- just over 8 times a game this year -- yet dunking less. Though players naturally would stop dunking less as they age, this is quite a decline for Griffin. The reason: he’s essentially swapped out one valuable shot for another. Even as recently as the 2015-16 season, Griffin failed to average even a single 3-point attempt per game. In the 2016-17, he averaged 1.9. This year with Detroit, Griffin has turned into a 3-point launching machine, averaging 6.8 attempts from beyond the arc.
Of players listed 6’9 or taller, only Paul George averages more 3-pointers per game than Griffin -- quite the change to say the least. For a Pistons team short on quality shooters, Griffin’s ability to convert shots from beyond the arc at such a high volume is part of the reason the team has moved up to sixth in the Eastern conference standings playoff race. And that’s not the only way Griffin’s skill set is covering for one of his team’s glaring weaknesses. Aside from backup point guard Ish Smith, the Pistons lack facilitators. Starting point guard Reggie Jackson is more of a scorer than passer and Detroit’s wing rotation lacks secondary creators like Utah’s Joe Ingles to make up for it. That playmaking burden has fallen to Griffin, but in quite a unique way.
Though he’s always been recognised for his passing ability, he’s utilised it in a different way during most of his career in L.A. With Chris Paul at point guard, Griffin mostly found himself dishing the ball around after screening in pick-and-rolls, wherein most of Griffin’s passing value came from his relationship with frontcourt partner DeAndre Jordan. In Detroit, head coach Dwayne Casey is combining an old-school action with a new-age approach. In the days when iconic big men like Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon were dominating the low block, post ups were about scoring. Nowadays, more and more NBA teams are using post-ups to suck defences in and open up more efficient shots on the perimeter.
Griffin’s record of making plays out of the post this season is fairly extreme. Griffin is averaging 4.9 possessions per game featuring a pass out of a post up that leads to a shot -- by far and away the highest mark in the league. To put that number in perspective, LaMarcus Aldridge currently ranks third, with 2.3 possessions per game -- less than half than Griffin’s mark. The combination of this playmaking and the 3-point shooting has made Griffin indispensable to Detroit offense. However, in the NBA, length, off-the-ball anticipation and defensive versatility -- the ability to guard multiple positions -- are some of the factors that go into creating a positive defensive impact. Griffin’s main issue is that he lacks the attributes that strengthen a team’s defensive backbone. The hole Griffin’s defensive shortcomings cause is evident in Detroit. When Griffin is on the floor, the Pistons defensive rating is underwhelming 107.7. When he sits, that number improves to 103.5 -- a number that would slot Detroit between the second place Indiana Pacers and third place Utah Jazz if it was their overall defensive mark.
This shortcoming has always engendered a complicated perception of Griffin’s career. However, taking into account -- his injuries, current roster, age and skill set -- Griffin is currently arguably the best version of himself. Yet, despite that, the Pistons unremarkable improvement this season means that the gnawing criticism remains: is Griffin’s good, good enough?
During his early years with the Clippers, Griffin was a rim-rattling, dunk machine. But as his years in L.A. wore on, this exciting athlete began to gradually shift into a different type of player. With the Pistons, we are now seeing Griffin at the peak of a career evolution rarely seen from players of his calibre. Griffin is essentially the team’s offensive hub. When he’s on the floor, the Pistons offensive rating is a respectable 107.2. But when Griffin sits, that number dips to a ghastly 99.8 -- a mark that would be almost three points behind the league-worst Memphis Grizzlies. And the way he’s creating that impact is completely different from the early days of his career.
In the 2010-11 season in L.A., 17.6 percent of Griffin’s shot attempts were dunks. This year in Detroit, Griffin has only dunked 3.4 percent of his shots. What’s even more interesting about that decline is that according to the NBA’s Player Tracking data, Griffin is driving toward the basket more than ever in his career -- just over 8 times a game this year -- yet dunking less. Though players naturally would stop dunking less as they age, this is quite a decline for Griffin. The reason: he’s essentially swapped out one valuable shot for another. Even as recently as the 2015-16 season, Griffin failed to average even a single 3-point attempt per game. In the 2016-17, he averaged 1.9. This year with Detroit, Griffin has turned into a 3-point launching machine, averaging 6.8 attempts from beyond the arc.
Of players listed 6’9 or taller, only Paul George averages more 3-pointers per game than Griffin -- quite the change to say the least. For a Pistons team short on quality shooters, Griffin’s ability to convert shots from beyond the arc at such a high volume is part of the reason the team has moved up to sixth in the Eastern conference standings playoff race. And that’s not the only way Griffin’s skill set is covering for one of his team’s glaring weaknesses. Aside from backup point guard Ish Smith, the Pistons lack facilitators. Starting point guard Reggie Jackson is more of a scorer than passer and Detroit’s wing rotation lacks secondary creators like Utah’s Joe Ingles to make up for it. That playmaking burden has fallen to Griffin, but in quite a unique way.
Though he’s always been recognised for his passing ability, he’s utilised it in a different way during most of his career in L.A. With Chris Paul at point guard, Griffin mostly found himself dishing the ball around after screening in pick-and-rolls, wherein most of Griffin’s passing value came from his relationship with frontcourt partner DeAndre Jordan. In Detroit, head coach Dwayne Casey is combining an old-school action with a new-age approach. In the days when iconic big men like Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon were dominating the low block, post ups were about scoring. Nowadays, more and more NBA teams are using post-ups to suck defences in and open up more efficient shots on the perimeter.
Griffin’s record of making plays out of the post this season is fairly extreme. Griffin is averaging 4.9 possessions per game featuring a pass out of a post up that leads to a shot -- by far and away the highest mark in the league. To put that number in perspective, LaMarcus Aldridge currently ranks third, with 2.3 possessions per game -- less than half than Griffin’s mark. The combination of this playmaking and the 3-point shooting has made Griffin indispensable to Detroit offense. However, in the NBA, length, off-the-ball anticipation and defensive versatility -- the ability to guard multiple positions -- are some of the factors that go into creating a positive defensive impact. Griffin’s main issue is that he lacks the attributes that strengthen a team’s defensive backbone. The hole Griffin’s defensive shortcomings cause is evident in Detroit. When Griffin is on the floor, the Pistons defensive rating is underwhelming 107.7. When he sits, that number improves to 103.5 -- a number that would slot Detroit between the second place Indiana Pacers and third place Utah Jazz if it was their overall defensive mark.
This shortcoming has always engendered a complicated perception of Griffin’s career. However, taking into account -- his injuries, current roster, age and skill set -- Griffin is currently arguably the best version of himself. Yet, despite that, the Pistons unremarkable improvement this season means that the gnawing criticism remains: is Griffin’s good, good enough?