By the numbers: The Blake Griffin Effect

There is no doubt that the Detroit Pistons have been  energized by the addition of Blake Griffin. What does that mean though? Let’s examine Blake Griffin’s impact on the numbers.

For simplicity’s sake I am going to take a look at the per game numbers for the Detroit Pistons’ starters prior to the addition of Blake Griffin and how they have changed in the eight games he has played with the team.

All stats are from Basketball Reference.

Unfortunately, this cannot be an apples-to-apples comparison.

First, there is the number of games; there were 49 games played before Griffin, and only eight since. There is also the question of who to include, since the starters prior to the trade were fluid, though since the trade the starting lineup has remained stable.

Since Reggie Jackson has not played a game with Griffin yet I will look at Ish Smith as the starting point guard. However, I will only use the stats from the 14 games that he started prior to the trade.

Though Stanley Johnson has more starts (25) than Reggie Bullock (24) before Griffin started suiting up for Detroit, I consider Bullock the starting small forward, mostly because he was in that role more recently than Johnson. However post-trade I will slide Bullock into the shooting guard role.

With all the house-keeping out of the way, let’s get to it.

Point Guard

Pre-trade Ish Smith (14 starts)

29:54 minutes per  game.

12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists

1.1 steals, 0.5 blocks

44.38 percent on field goals with 12.1 attempts

15.38 percent on three pointers with 0.9 attempts

77.78 percent on free throws with 2.6 attempts

Ish Smith in games Blake Griffin started (8 starts)

30:30 minutes per game.

13.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists

1.3 steals, 0.1 blocks

53 percent on field goals with 10.4 attempts

50 percent on three pointers with 0.8 attempts

78.3 percent on free throws with 2.9 attempts

Key differences

Smith is scoring more points on less shots with Griffin on the court, in less than a minute more playing time. With 53 percent on field goals, Smith is shooting the best amongst the starters.

Shooting Guard

Pre-trade Avery Bradley (40 starts)

31:42 minutes per game.

15 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists

1.2 steals, 0.2 blocks

40.9 percent on field goals with 14.3 attempts

38.1 percent on three pointers with 4.9 attempts

76.3 percent on free throws with 2 attempts

Reggie Bullock in games Blake Griffin started (8 starts)

34:06 minutes per game.

14.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists

0.6 steals, 0.3 blocks

48.8 percent on field goals with 10.3 attempts

45.5 percent on three pointers with 5.5 attempts

81.3 percent on free throws with 2 attempts

Key Differences

Bullock is playing about Two and a half minutes more than Bradley was. He is scoring about one point less, but using four less shots to due so. A key reason is Bullocks superior three-point shooting.

Small Forward

Pre-trade Reggie Bullock (24 starts)

29:06 minutes per game.

10.9 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists

0.9 steals, 0.2 blocks

53.68 percent on field goals with 7.9 attempts

50 percent on three pointers with 4.3 attempts

77.78 percent on free throws with 0.4 attempts

Stanley Johnson in games Blake Griffin started (8 starts)

31:36 minutes per game.

12 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists

0.9 steals, 0.3 blocks

44.7 percent on field goals with 9.5 attempts

35.7 percent on three pointers with 3.5 attempts

85.7 percent on free throws with 2.6 attempts

Key Differences

Johnson’s numbers are up across the board, save field goal percent and three pointer, playing a minute and a half more minutes. What’s most noticeable is Johnson’s free throw attempts are way up from pre-trade Bullock, and he’s shooting them remarkably well.

Power Forward

Pre-trade Tobias Harris (48 starts)

32:36 minutes per game.

18.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2 assists

0.7 steals, 0.3 blocks

45.1 percent on field goals with 14.8 attempts

40.9 percent on three pointers with 5.8 attempts

84.6 percent on free throws with 2.8 attempts

Blake Griffin as a Piston (8 starts)

34 minutes per game.

20.4 points, 8 rebounds, 6.1 assists

0.6 steals, 0.5 blocks

40.6 percent on field goals with 17.3 attempts

29.4 percent on three pointers with 6.4 attempts

81.8 percent on free throws with 6.4 attempts

Key Differences

In about one and a half minutes more per game, Griffin is scoring over two points more, collecting three more rebounds, and dishing out over four more assists than was Harris. Griffin is a significantly worse shooter from the field, but makes up his points at the charity stripe.

Center

Pre-trade Andre Drummond (47 starts)

33:12 minutes per game.

14.8 points, 15.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists

1.6 steals, 1.4 blocks

54.9 percent on field goals with 10.7 attempts

0 percent on three pointers with 0.1 attempts

61.9 percent on free throws with 4.9 attempts

Andre Drummond in games Blake Griffin started (8 starts)

34:48 minutes per game.

16.8 points, 18.4 rebounds, 2 assists

1.8 steals, 2.5 blocks

47.3 percent on field goals with 13.8 attempts

0 percent on three pointers with 0 attempts

65.2 percent on free throws with 5.8 attempts

Key Differences

Drummondis playing one and a half more minutes than before the trade, and scoring two more points, recording three more rebounds, but dishing out about half as many assists. He is taking three more field goal attempts per game, though he is less efficient with the increase in volume, but he is getting to the line a little bit more.

Overall differences

Just a couple caveats before looking at the total impact on the starting line up.  First, again, this is not a strict apples to apples comparison due to minutes played, games played, and other factors. Second, these aren’t number from the starting unit while they are on the floor together, but the total numbers for the above mentioned starters.

The starters, with Griffin, are playing more time on the court than before Griffin, 68.89 percent of available minutes vs 65.21 percent.

Both starting units each took and made about the same amount of field goals. Also, there isn’t even much difference in shooting from beyond the arc, 37.65 percent on 16.2 three point attempts now, vs 41.1 percent on 16 attempts before Griffin.

The most significant improvement with Griffin has been drawing fouls. Before Griffin the starters were taking 12.6 free throw attempts per game and hitting at a 72.68 percent rate. However, since the addition of Griffin they are now taking more than six more attempts per game, 18.8, and knocking them down at a higher rate, 77.13 percent.

They are also pulling down nine more rebounds per game, 37.3 vs 28.4. They are dishing out more assists, 16.9 vs 14.4, and blocking more shots, 3.7 vs 2.6.

They are turning the ball over a little bit more than before, 9.9 vs 7.7. However, they are scoring five more points, 76.9 vs 71.7.

Next: Ish Smith must be benched

Of course none of these numbers take into account the bench and if Griffin has had any affect there as well.  But we can see that the starters are playing a bit more per game, and scoring a bit more, taking more of a burden off of the bench, which is a good thing.

The Blake Griffin effect is very real and measurable. The Pistons traded away two starters to get Griffin, but they received in return improvement at every position.