Los Angeles Lakers
With Anthony Davis out until after the All-Star break with a calf strain, the defending champion Lakers are kind of thin in their frontcourt. Kyle Kuzma will likely be the player to step up and get a lot of AD’s minutes, but he has been more of a wing player than a strong forward in the paint.
With AD out, the Lakers are definitely going to be worse defensively and they could start to struggle rebounding as well. LeBron James will definitely have to do more than he already does for this team and centers Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol will also have to be stronger when it comes to rebounding.
Overall, this Lakers team is going to struggle without Anthony Davis on the court, which is why getting Blake Griffin could be a perfect move for GM Rob Pelinka and this front-office. Since he was traded to the Pistons during the 2017-18 season, Griffin has averaged 6.7 rebounds per game, which is not great given what he did earlier in his career, but is all that the Lakers would need from him.
Griffin is not an All-Star player anymore, but he is still someone that opponents have to respect on the court given his abilities. Having that reliable, veteran player in Griffin who can go out and get 10 points and 6 rebounds on any given night gives the Lakers a little bit of the production Davis leaves behind.
If they can get this from Griffin, they would be absolutely fine because other key role players can step up and fill the rest of the void left behind by AD. They would still struggle defensively, with or without Blake Griffin, but the Lakers will need some more production down the stretch and he can provide them with some of that.
In the grand scheme of things, the Lakers are the best landing spot for Blake Griffin because they can not only win a championship this year, but because he will still have a big role with them. In Los Angeles, Griffin would likely see 15-20 minutes per game and could really step up and be a leader in the second-unit when LeBron is on the bench.
It makes perfect sense for the Lakers to pursue Blake Griffin and quite honestly, he should want to play for the Lakers. While he may still have some animosity for them since he was a member of the Clippers for seven years, putting on the purple and gold would be the best move Griffin could make with his career right now.
