Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin each left the Detroit Pistons during the season to go to a team they could help in the playoffs. So, after the first playoff game for each, how did they do?
Going into the 2020-21 season, there was no question who the leaders were on the Detroit Pistons: Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose.
Griffin had been an All-NBA performer two years earlier for the Pistons, before injuries had forced him to play a limited amount games,. But he was now declared healthy.
Rose was a former MVP who had provided a spark to the Pistons off the bench since arriving in 2019. Rose did not start only because coach Dwane Casey wanted to preserve him for the season, as Rose arrived after suffering a multitude of injuries.
Both Rose and Griffin were former No. 1 overall draft picks and known to basketball fans around the country.
Publicly, they accepted being part of the the Pistons ‘retooling’ and looked forwarded to mentoring the many young players on Detroit’s roster. Rose took special interest in rookie point guard Killian Hayes, the No. 7 overall pick in the draft.
Privately, things apparently began to change as the Pistons record got worse and worse.
(Note: If you watched the early season Pistons games, a lot of those losses came due to poor play by Griffin and/or Rose down the stretch. They were both rusty, and looked it).
As far as it is known, both Rose and Griffin did indeed help the younger players adjust to being in the NBA.
However, they did not want to spend the whole season dispensing advice to 19-year-olds while the losses piled up. Rose’s contract was up at the end of the season while Griffin had one more year after this on his massive max contract deal.
Neither was going to be around when the Pistons, at some point, became contenders again, so it was time to bail. Detroit management was as accommodating as they could be. No one wanted any public feud.
The first shoe to drop was on February 8, with Rose being traded to the New York Knicks for Dennis Smith Jr. and a second-round pick. The Knicks were coached by Tom Thibodeau, who was Rose’s coach during his MVP season in Chicago.
New York, after years of wallowing at the bottom of the standings, was making a playoff push, and hoped Rose would help them.
The next move was with Griffin. It was soon after the Rose trade was consummated that the announcement came that Griffin would no longer play for Detroit, while both sides sought a solution to find him a new home.
With his huge salary ($70 million owed over two years), no team would trade for Griffin. He was finally bought out on March 5, and by March 8 it was announced he had signed for the rest of the season with the Brooklyn Nets.
You could say the loss of Ross and Griffin severely hurt the Pistons, but it was not like they were doing all that well with them. Detroit was 5-18 when Rose was traded, and had a 10-25 record the day Griffin was released.
Griffin and Rose went to seek greener pastures (well, actually Griffin lost $13 million in greenbacks in the buyout, but you know what we mean).
They both now had a chance to experience the playoffs, something they never would have had, this season, with Detroit.
So how did they do in their initial playoff game’s for their new teams?
Let’s take a look:
The point is Blake Griffin is with Brooklyn in playoffs
Blake Griffin has never been with a team that had gotten past the second round of the playoffs. That might change now that he is with the Brooklyn Nets.
With the (now healthy) triumvirate of James Harden, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, the Nets are the heavy betting favorite to win the Eastern Conference, even though they are the No. 2 seed.
Griffin did get decent playing time when he arrived in Brooklyn. He played in 26 games, started 10, and averaged 10 points in about 20 minutes a game.
While his scoring average was a bit down (he played 10 minutes a game less than in Detroit), his offensive shooting statistics improved _ in some aspects dramatically _ from what he had been giving the Pistons.
This was noticed by certain Detroit fans. They also noticed he dunked with the Nets, something he had not done in his last two years with Detroit.
The Nets opened up the NBA playoffs with the Boston Celtics. Boston was missing Jaylen Brown but they still had Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart. The Celts also have made the Eastern finals three out of the last four years, so they have a bundle of playoff experience.
Griffin ended up being the starting center for the Nets in Game 1. Ironically, in Detroit, Griffin was steadfast at playing almost solely power forward. Andre Drummond and, this season, Mason Plumlee were the Pistons centers when Griffin was there.
Ironically, DeAndre Jordan was the Clippers center back when Griffin was there. Both are now with Brooklyn, and Griffin started ahead of Jordan, as the Celtics have very little inside game.
You could say the strategy worked. The Nets won, 104-93, although Boston opened the game with a 12-point advantage against the starting five.
Griffin’s statistics were not overpowering: one point, four assists, three rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes.
After the game, Griffin told the New York Post’s Paul Schwartz how it was to play with the ‘Big 3’, who rarely were on the court together during the regular season.
"A lot of times watching film or seeing highlights you do see that and you do notice the luxury that we do have with those three guys,’’ Griffin said. “But there’s not a lot of time to stop in the middle of a game and have those thoughts.”"
Griffin was a +1 in the game so the Nets did not exactly dominate when he was out there, but he did not hurt them either. It will be interesting to see how Griffin is used in the rest of the playoffs.
If Brooklyn gets past Boston, they most likely will face the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Philadelphia 76ers, two teams with very strong inside games.
A dose of Derrick Rose apparently is exactly what the doctor ordered for the New York Knicks.
After Rose’s first game with New York, a loss at Miami, the Knicks had a record of 11-15. Honestly, after almost a decade of futility, making the Play-in tournament would have been seen as a successful season.
However, the Knicks simply went on a tear after that, becoming one of the NBA’s hottest teams. At one point, they had a nine-game winning streak, and a couple of times won three games in a row.
After Rose’s debut, the Knicks were 30-16 the rest of the way and ended up as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. At the time of the Rose trade, if someone said the Knicks would have a better record than the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, they would have been laughed at.
Like Griffin, Rose saw all his offensive statistics improve when he moved to his new team. Unlike Griffin, his minutes increased (from 22 in Detroit to 26 with NY) plus his scoring average went up from 14.2 to 14.9 (although he still rarely started).
In the playoff opener at Madison Square Garden against the Atlanta Hawks, Rose played 38 minutes and scored 17 points with five assists and five rebounds.
The Hawls led at the end but it appeared Rose was sending the game into overtime, when he hit a foul-line jumper with 9.8 seconds remaining to tie the score at 105-105.
Of course, we know there was no overtime. Atlanta’s Trae Young sank a game-winning shot, to break the hearts of Spike Lee and all Knicks fans.
Hawks-Knicks appears to be a battle between two pretty evenly-matched teams. It is also, quite obvious, that Rose will be a key player for the Knicks throughout the series.
In a bit of irony, Rose did not start the playoff opener, while Blake Griffin did for his team, yet Rose played a lot more and filled up the stat sheet.
All you can say from the Detroit perspective is, this is what they wanted, let’s see what happens.