Doc Rivers wants to keep Clippers' core together for one more year
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Clippers coach Doc Rivers says he wants to keep the team’s core together for one more season before he expects Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to opt out of their contracts, according to ESPN's Rachel Nichols.
Paul and Griffin have been the center of the Clippers' offense since 2011. Paul can be a free agent after next season, while Griffin can enter free agency in 2018.
Paul is coming off a season in which he finished with averages of 19.5 points, 10.0 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. The Clippers signed Paul to a five-year, $107 million extension in the summer of 2013. Griffin, who was drafted by Los Angeles with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2009 NBA draft, five-year, $95 million extension in July 2012.
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The Clippers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers. Griffin aggravated a left quadriceps injury in Game 4 and missed the last two games of the series, while Paul underwent surgery to repair a right hand fracture that he suffered in the series.
