NBA: What the Blake Griffin trade says about desperate teams

The move by the Detroit Pistons, in which they landed Blake Griffin, says a lot about the climate that is surrounding desperate teams in the NBA

The blockbuster trade between the LA Clippers and Detroit Pistons that saw Blake Griffin shipped from LA to Detroit contains no shortage of interesting storylines, both on and off the court. One of those storylines is the perspective and motivation of the Pistons, whose head coach Stan Van Gundy is also president of basketball operations.

This move is absolutely a win-now move for a team that is mediocre at best and had just lost 8 games in a row. This trade doesn’t make the Pistons contenders or even a guarantee them a spot in the playoffs this year.

This decision likely stems from the fact that Van Gundy, who is in the 4th year of a 5-year, $35 million contract, knew he had to do something to save his job and hold on to the power he currently holds. Now Van Gundy can sell ownership on an All-Star frontcourt pairing that could make Detroit a playoff team over the next several years.

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That doesn’t negate the fact that this trade is a huge risk. Griffin hasn’t been able to stay healthy recently and the Pistons could potentially be paying a 32-year-old Griffin nearly $39 million in 2021-22, if he ops in to his player option.

Blake Griffin is one of the most skilled big men in the game but, with health concerns and Griffin’s heavy reliance on his other-worldly athleticism, the end of that contract could look ugly.

The Pistons are going to be capped out for the next few years so this will likely be the roster that is in place during that time. It is clearly way too early to say that this is a bad move but the substantial risks have to be acknowledged.

Moves like this are often the result of management that is under pressure to win or risk potentially losing their job. Some of the worst transactions in the NBA have been made by teams that are extremely desperate.

Look no further than the disastrous summer of 2016 to find prime examples of this trend.

In Orlando Rob Hennigan, in a last-ditch attempt to craft a playoff team, traded Victor Oladipo and the rights to Domantas Sabonis for a half-season of Serge Ibaka. After that draft-night move, he signed Evan Fournier to a 5-year, $85 million contract and Bismack Biyombo to a 4-year, $72 million contract. A year later, Hennigan lost his job and the Magic are still nowhere near being competitive.

In the same summer Mitch Kupchak, under pressure amidst the worst losing streak in Laker history, signed Luol Deng to a 4-year, $72 million deal and Timofey Mozgov to a 4-year, $64 million deal. Kupchak was eventually relieved of his duties and these two financial monstrosities have made it incredibly difficult for the Lakers to open up the cap space to sign two max-level free agents this summer.

The pressure to win has also severely affected the management decisions of Van Gundy’s fellow coaches who are also calling the shots in the front office.

In Atlanta, Mike Budenholzer ignored the writing on the wall and held on to the All-Star core from the 60-win Hawks team for far too long. Instead of jump-starting a rebuild by trading away veterans for young pieces and draft picks, the Hawks watched players like Paul Millsap walk away for nothing.

It was a similar story in Los Angeles, where Doc Rivers was never able to balance coaching and building a sustainable winner around an established Big 3. Rivers never seemed concerned with the future, as he continued to make short-sighted moves and trade away a number of first-round picks.

Both of these coaches are still on the sidelines but they have been forced to relinquish their managerial control. After the inevitable demotions, both the Clippers and the Hawks began to embrace more sustainable, long-term philosophies.

In contrast, the most stable organizations in the NBA have general managers who have equity and trust within the organization. Boston, Golden State and San Antonio all have a system in place and a general manager who is not on an accelerated timeline or being forced to make rushed, short-sighted moves.

Boston’s past offseason is a perfect example of the kind of relationship that is required to build a contender in the NBA. Danny Ainge passed on trading for a number of stars only to go all-in on Kyrie Irving in a deal that was widely talked about as an overpay.

That deal, at the moment, looks like a home run.

That deal could only be made in an organization with a general manager that is patient enough to wait for the right move and smart enough to take a chance and make a big-time move for the right guy. It really is a two-way street. A GM needs an organization’s trust to take get the time that is necessary to make intelligent, calculated moves and an organization needs to see a GM make those kind of moves before they can really trust a GM in the long run.

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It will take a few years before the grade on the Blake Griffin trade becomes official but if there is anything that can be learned now from Detroit’s situation and others like it, it is this: Anytime a general manger or front office is working to save their jobs, the team is running the risk of sacrificing the future for a modicum of short-term success.

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