NBA Summer Workout SZN: Blake Griffin Edition
Alright Pistons fans, eat your heart out! To my knowledge this is the first Piston we’ve seen this summer, and I have to admit, now that Blake is 100% healthy he’s looking pretty fucking good here. I don’t say this just because he’s a friend of the program, but because it’s the truth. We already know the dude can dunk so that’s not really what intrigued me about this video. To me it was how much more comfortable he looks creating off the dribble and how much more confident he looks in his outside shot. If you remember when he went on PMT he talked about working on his outside shooting this summer as well as his approach to using it, and I feel confident in saying that after watching this video it’s going to be a legit weapon for the Pistons next year.
Last season was a weird one for DET, they got off to that great start, then people started getting hurt, then the Blake blockbuster came out of nowhere. Blake played 25 games as a Piston, and averaged 19.8/6.6/6.2 on 43/34% splits. His points and rebounds dipped slightly, but his assists went up while he was a little less efficient from the floor. Now that he’s had time to really learn the system and is healthy, I would imagine he looks closer to the LAC version. What I found interesting was his approach and production from deep didn’t really change. He took 5.7 3PA as a Clipper making 1.9, and 5.4 as a Piston making 1.9. For both teams he had a 3PAr of 32% which means it’s not like once he joined a team that was going nowhere, he changed his game and just started jacking up threes at a higher rate.
If this video is telling us anything, that his handles and offensive awareness are going to take a step forward, I’m interested to see how much the Pistons use him as a Point Forward. They’ll have Reggie Jackson back, and brought in Calderon this offseason, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we see DET run their offense through Blake on the perimeter. You also have to factor in that Drummond has been working on his outside shot as well, so we may see a bunch of possessions where he isn’t by the rim clogging the paint, making Blake’s ability to handle the ball and attack the rim even more valuable.
Either way, I’m just praying Blake stays 100% healthy all season because when he does he fucks around with MVPish type numbers. Now that he’s out of the West he should continue to feast on opposing bigs, and hopefully the Pistons won’t be underachieving assholes and will actually make the playoffs.