What Blake Griffin being cleared to play means for the Detroit Pistons

Blake Griffin confirmed recently that he’s been cleared for basketball activities “for a while now”. What does his return mean for the Detroit Pistons?

After appearing on “The Encore” with Sage Steele, Blake Griffin confirmed that he’s ready to return to the Detroit Pistons whenever basketball is able to pick up play.

Whether or not Detroit would actually have the chance to play remains to be seen, but it’s expected that if the season is to resume, a few warm up games would be necessary before jumping into the playoffs.

"“I feel great. I’ve basically been cleared for a while now, I’ve just been stuck at my house,” Griffin said. “I’m ready to go whenever things pick back up.” – Blake Griffin"

There are two questions that immediately came to mind when fans heard this news. Will Griffin’s return hinder the Pistons ability to rebuild? If the season is to resume, should he still wait until next season to come back?

Let’s start with the first question. After it was announced that Griffin opted to undergo season ending surgery back in January, his second knee surgery in eight months, it was expected that his road to recovery could take awhile.

But now that he’s reportedly feeling great, one has to wonder if he’s feeling like his former 2018-2019 self again. If this is the case, even then he on his own won’t be able to save this Pistons team.

The issue is that when you combine the forces of him, Derrick Rose and Luke Kennard. When healthy, that trio could do enough damage to actually land Detroit in the playoff hunt, which isn’t entirely optimal right now.

So, considering it’s a pretty big “if” that they’re all going to stay healthy, it likely won’t cause too much of an issue. If anything, Griffin has evolved into a coach on the floor in recent years, and his mentoring will go a long way for players like Sekou Doumbouya.

We covered the topic of these players potentially hurting the rebuild a few months back, and you can check that out here.

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Detroit has so much cap space that even with the enormous contract that Griffin carries with him, they’re not affected by it much. Trading him would be more for his own benefit rather than the team’s.

If it becomes a question of “should he still rest until next season begins?” the answer there should be a resounding yes. Currently, if Detroit were to play even five more games, they’re still looking to solidify a better draft position.

If hypothetically they were to lose even two or three of those games, the ramifications could be massive. It’s not that you’re rooting for the team to lose, but winning games that ultimately hurt your chances at bettering the franchise is a tough sell.

Although any games that Detroit would play would have meaning, they’re not meaningful enough to potentially lose your star in the process. In all likelihood Griffin will play in these games, which admittedly will be pretty fun to watch again, but it comes with a significant risk.

If his knee issues for some reason or another begin to flare up and we’re left without him for another 5-6 months, that’s a critical blow if you were ever interested in exploring trade options for him.

Blake Griffin is back, and fans should be excited to watch him again. But the reality that we could lose him again is a difficult reality to imagine.