Reasons against the Los Angeles Lakers signing Blake Griffin:
Quite frankly, there is only one real reason against the Los Angeles Lakers signing Blake Griffin that has been cited by those that do not want to see the Lakers bring in the former All-Pro player.
And it is rather simple.
Blake Griffin is not that great of an NBA player anymore
If we solely look at the numbers then this is true. Blake Griffin has battled injuries in recent years and his play has taken a hit as a result. He has also tried to morph his game to be more in-line with the evolving NBA, which has made his leff efficient as a result.
Griffin is a player who would have been perfect in the ’90s and if he stayed healthy he would have been a bonafide Hall of Famer in that era. Instead, he has been a shell of his former self at just 31.
Griffin is averaging 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game this season. He is taking 6.2 threes per game and is only shooting 31.5%. His combined eFG% over the last two seasons is 42.9%… that is horrendous.
He has been in the negative in each of the last two seasons in value over replacement player (38 combined games) and has a combined Box Plus/Minus of -3.3 over the last two seasons.
Griffin ranks 282nd out of 307 players (with at least 1,000 minutes played) in that statistic over that stretch. That is really bad.
Griffin’s level of play alone is seemingly enough of an argument for the Lakers to pass on him and instead use the roster spot elsewhere… so should they?