When the Detroit Pistons traded for Blake Griffin and his monster contract, this was pretty much the worst-case scenario.
We have an aging player whose skills are in clear decline eating up most of the salary cap with a contract that is “untradable” according to the Ringer.
He is not only playing terribly and killing the Pistons’ salary cap situation but he is also taking developmental minutes away from the young players in the process.
Dwane Casey has talked a lot about “earning” minutes but Blake Griffin continues to get run even though he has arguably been Detroit’s worst player.
The Ringer is right, Blake Griffin is likely untradable this season, which is why the Detroit Pistons need to drastically alter their approach to how they are using him.
They need to find ways to get Blake Griffin going without hurting the team and unjustifiably taking minutes from younger, better players.
Here is what the Detroit Pistons should do with Blake Griffin.
Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin needs to sit out more
Blake Griffin has already sat on the second game of a back-to-back and this should continue, in fact, the Pistons should be doing everything they can to keep Blake Griffin healthy.
The chances of trading him this season are slim and none but if Blake is not healthy he is not going to help anyone.
This means sitting him against bad teams where the Pistons have more favorable matchups. Blake Griffin should never play back-to-backs and I wouldn’t be unhappy if he sat out roughly every third game.
Maybe the extra rest will put some life back in his legs and game. Probably not, but it is worth a shot and the Detroit Pistons have zero chance of moving him if he is injured.