After the not too long ago signed Danilo Gallinari went down with a torn ACL earlier than taking part in a unmarried common season sport for the crew, the Boston Celtics needed to temporarily pivot to search out a substitute. With all of the massive names long past in unfastened company and the industry marketplace depleted, the Celtics didn’t have a lot of choices to select from.
Seemingly, that supposed they needed to choose a washed veteran or journeyman position participant to fill the void, neither very engaging to Celtics fanatics. That led the Celtics to signal former all-star Blake Griffin on a one-year, veteran minimal contract, who many NBA fanatics appear to consider is well past his top in accordance with his decline in each mins and total stats.
While that can be true, that doesn’t imply Blake Griffin doesn’t have the rest left to provide, particularly to a younger contending crew. Griffin is evidently now not an all-star caliber participant, however that doesn’t imply he can’t deliver a lot to the crew at the courtroom.
Given the highest gamers at the Celtics are nonetheless very younger, like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown who’re nonetheless most effective 24 and 25 respectively, including extra veterans to fill out the remainder of the roster can by no means harm.
While it kind of feels like a for the reason that the 33-year-old will assist the crew off the courtroom, he may assist the crew at the courtroom if given play time. He has a distinctive talent set the Celtics haven’t had for a whilst, and likewise must have compatibility effectively into the present big-man rotation.
All-in-all, there are many reasons Blake Griffin is a welcome boost, however listed below are 3 reasons that stand out.
Reason No. 1 Blake Griffin is a fantastic signing for the Boston Celtics: Skillset
While the insane athleticism of top Blake Griffin is lengthy long past, the veteran nonetheless has a lot of attention-grabbing abilities to deliver to the desk to assist out the Boston Celtics. The 6-foot-9 combo massive is distinctive within the sense that he is a stretch massive who can play the middle or energy ahead spots solidly. He is 250 kilos, so he has the scale to protect facilities within the put up, however he additionally has the offensive functions to play energy ahead.
While his lateral quickness is a lot to be desired at this level of his occupation, Griffin makes for a nice backup massive with a quite equivalent play taste to Al Horford, one thing the C’s have lacked but even so Horford for a very long time.
Like Horford, Griffin has a cast 3-point shot (38% from deep with Brooklyn as not too long ago as two seasons in the past) which must stay cast given he’s taking part in with superstar gamers who will draw a lot of on-ball consideration.
He additionally has at all times been a cast passer for a massive guy with 4.1 assists in line with sport in his occupation, that means he must get quite a few 3-point assists at the perimeter in addition to quite a few lob assists to a man like Rob Williams (when he is absolutely wholesome).
While Griffin’s protection isn’t as just right as Horford’s, it is great to have a participant with no less than a slightly equivalent play taste to assist the crew no longer lose as a lot when Horford is out of the sport. With Griffin’s distinctive and fascinating skillset, he must be a seamless have compatibility at the courtroom with the Celtics, whether or not he performs a lot or no longer.