The Brooklyn Nets have had to make some lineup adjustments when Joe Harris suffered his left ankle injury. With him undergoing surgery and expected to be sidelined four to eight weeks, some of those lineup adjustments could be sticking around for the foreseeable future as the NBA season plays out.
One of those lineup changes was swapping LaMarcus Aldridge into the starting lineup in place of Blake Griffin.
Aldridge is in the midst of one of the best shooting seasons in NBA history for a player that is as reliant on mid-range shots as much as he is.
Aldridge, who had to retire for a short period of time from the NBA because of a heart ailment, has been one of the best players for Steve Nash this season. He is averaging 13.8 points on 58 percent shooting from the field and grabbing 5.9 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game.
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Given his shooting prowess, it made sense to make a change. While he understood the change to the starting five, the removal from the rotation was not something that he expected.
“No, I mean listen, [Aldridge] has been playing unbelievable,” Griffin said. “So, I totally get starting him, especially Joe [Harris] has been out, and I totally get that.
“Being completely out of it, though, I didn’t necessarily see that coming. But that’s not my decision. As players it’s our job to do whatever coaches see best, so at this point that’s what it is.”
Blake Griffin is in the midst of the worst shooting season of his career, making only 31.8 percent of his shots overall and 16.1 percent of his 3-point attempts. The 5.5 points per game that Griffin is scoring is also a career-low, while he is pulling down 4.9 rebounds per game.
Griffin started all 17 games that he appeared in this season, but it is anyone’s guess when he will be making his next appearance as the Nets decided to remove him from the rotation altogether.
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The six-time All-Star has been in touch with DeAndre Jordan, who had a similar situation with the Nets last season. Jordan was a starter at the beginning of the season but was eventually moved into a bench role and before the postseason was removed from the rotation altogether.
“I have seen [and] have had great examples,” Griffin said. “DeAndre last year, he is a guy that I talked to that reached out. A lot of the guys from last year reached out. He did a really great job with it. I told him that. That is how I am going to try to do it as well.
“Just be a professional and do exactly what you are supposed to do,” Griffin added of what message his former teammates told him. “It may sound like not good advice, but in this situation, everybody always needs to hear the right thing.”
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While Blake Griffin is likely disappointed to not be receiving playing time for the foreseeable future, he is saying all of the right things when it comes to the situation. He wants to win a ring, and for the time being, his removal from the rotation is what the coaching staff believes will help the team win the most games.
