Stakes high for Griffin lottery
Now that the trading-deadline dust has settled, there is clarity for the Thunder.
It must get Blake Griffin.
The Oklahoma big man has yet to declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft, but he is clearly ready for that next level. He is dominating the college game this season, and more than that, he is showing skills and abilities that will translate well in the NBA.
He is strong. He is athletic. He is versatile.
He scores. He defends. He rebounds.
All of those characteristics will make him a 6-foot-10 force in the NBA.
An inside presence like that is exactly what the Thunder needs after the Tyson Chandler trade was rescinded. In the Hornets center, the Thunder would’ve gotten a strong, athletic, versatile big man who can score, defend and rebound. Now, the franchise on the prowl again for such a player.
Griffin is the answer, not Hasheem Thabeet.
The Connecticut center is a 7-footer and then some. He is a lanky, rangy character, but after watching him get dominated by Pittsburgh the other night, I have to wonder about how his game and his skills will translate in the NBA. DeJuan Blair was clearly better than Thabeet.
And in case you’re wondering, Thabeet would face someone who is better than Blair every single night in the NBA.
Some day Thabeet might be a great NBA center, but right now, that day seems a long ways off. He would be a project for sure, and he might end up being a long-term project that never is completed.
Griffin, on the other hand, looks like he could play tonight with the Thunder in Phoenix if the team had a uniform for him. He has the game, the body, the skill to play in the NBA now and for a long time to come.
The Thunder will be in position to get him come draft time. Maybe it gets the No. 1 pick from the magic ping pong balls. Maybe it packages players and picks in a deal to acquire that No. 1 pick from someone else. Whatever the case, Sam Presti and Co. must make it happen.
That much is clear.
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Absolutely right, Jenni! Thunder fans will be very disappointed if we don’t get Griffin.