Los Angeles Clippers Trade Blake Griffin To Detroit Pistons

By Ryan Phillips | Jan 29 2018

Blake Griffin has been traded to the Detroit Pistons. As we posted earlier, the Pistons and the Los Angeles Clippers had been in serious trade discussions and now it appears a deal has been finalized.

Yahoo!’s Shams Charania was the first to report the trade:

Sources: Clippers, Pistons are finalizing a deal that would send Blake Griffin, Willie Reed for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley and a draft pick. Multiple players involved have been informed of deal.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 29, 2018

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski wasn’t far behind.

The Clippers and Pistons have agreed on a deal to trade Blake Griffin for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic, a first-round and a second-round draft pick, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 29, 2018

Griffin, Willie Reed and Brice Johnson are headed to Detroit in exchange for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban Marjanovic and two draft picks.

The Clippers will be relieved to get out from under Griffin’s five-year, $171 million contract, but will also be losing the face of their franchise. In return they’ll get Harris, a 25-year-old wing having the best year of his career (18.1 points, 5.1 rebounds per game) and Bradley, a guy who was instrumental to the rise of the Boston Celtics last season.

Harris is owed around $35 million over the next two seasons, while Bradley will be a free agent this summer. That means the Clippers may have to re-sign both Bradley and Lou Williams in the offseason.

It’s clear what Detroit is going for. While Harris was the team’s leading scorer, Griffin will combine with Andre Drummond to give the Pistons the league’s most formidable frontcourt. With DeMarcus Cousins out for the season, no team will be able to match Detroit up front.