Blake Griffin will be free to sign with the Nets or another interested NBA team after agreeing to a purchase agreement with the Detroit Pistons.
The nets are “considered to be [the] leaders ”to add Griffin, Shams Charania from Athletic posted on Twitter, adding “rival teams with interest expect Griffin to choose [Brooklyn] as the title favorite for the chance to win a championship. ”
Lakers, Heat, Warriors and Clippers – his former team – they are among those who have also expressed interest, according to the New York Times.
Griffin, 31, has not played since Feb. 12, while the Pistons tried to change him before the March 25 deadline, but found no players due to the rest of his 36.6 salary. million dollars for this season and the $ 39 million it has. due for 2021-22.
The Nets have won 10 of their last 11 games to enter the All-Star break with the second-best Eastern Conference record (24-13), half a game behind Philadelphia.
Kevin Durant missed the last nine games with a hamstring injury, and Steve Nash mostly hired a smaller team, 6-4, Bruce Brown, to advance.
Durant will play the All-Star Game on Sunday, but the Nets will continue to be represented by goalkeepers Kyrie Irving and James Harden.
After Griffin eliminates the waivers on Sunday, the Nets could use the midfield exception (about $ 5.6 million) to sign him deep on the front field behind Durant and DeAndre Jordan, a former Clippers teammate. Griffin also worked with Durant during the summer in Los Angeles.
Griffin has an average of 12.3 career points and 5.2 rebounds in 20 games this season. He was assigned by the Clippers to Detroit in 2018, in the first season of a five-year extension worth $ 171 million.