Lakers Rumors: NBA Insider Suggests that Six-Time All-Star Blake Griffin is Leaning Towards Signing with LA
Lakers fans somehow holding hope that LA will make some splashy free agent signing in the coming days will be waiting in vein. Quite simply, the Lakers don't have the cap space, nor the trade assets, to make an impactful deal to drastically improve the roster at the moment. Rob Pelinka and his team have the taxpayer mid-level exception ($6.4M) and veteran minimums to offer, that's it. Which is why signing players like Blake Griffin is a more reasonable expectation and frankly, the reality the Lakers find themselves in.
During a recent podcast, NBA reporters Marc Stein and Jake Fischer covered today's free agency kick off and reaffirmed the Lakers interest in Griffin.
"It sounds like he’s gonna go to Los Angeles. The Clippers would be pretty weird, funny, silly outcome with the whole exit there. So I mean, the Lakers would make more sense in that regard."
Griffin is far, far from the All-Star forward he used to be, but he did provide valuable minutes off the bench for the Nets during the regular season. However, he was essentially a non-factor in the Nets first-round loss to the Celtics (12.5 MPG).
Adding players that can perform in the postseason is paramount, but so is having a viable roster that can actually make the playoffs.
Griffin is a veteran who understands his role and if he can give the Lakers 10-15 productive minutes a game and is willing to sign for the veteran minimum, it's absolutely a signing the Lakers should consider.
Is it a signing that harkens back to last summer where the Lakers signed a slew of over-the-hill veterans? Absolutely.
Is signing 33-year-old Blake Griffin just where the Lakers are right now? Absolutely.
