Welcome to Boston Blake Griffin – (Retires April 16, 2024)

[JJHondo17]

This has nothing to do with a Rob Williams / Luke Kornet discussion. This is all about a bridge for Gallo/Hauser. If Sam doesn't step up immediately, Blake will eat more of those minutes. Neither one of them can defend anybody. Hopefully Joe Mazz can coax that out of them.

[fallguy]

Hopefully he's a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency guy and we get Hauser, Kornet and (especially) Kabengele some run ahead of him.

[Froob]

Hopefully he's a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency guy and we get Hauser, Kornet and (especially) Kabengele some run ahead of him.

Are we sure Kornet is better?

[threrf23]

Never been a great defender and doesn't rebound well.

Having said that, I don't think he is permanently washed up, and in terms of strengths and weaknesses at this point, I think he is a bit more similar to Gallo than people will give him credit for. He is a solid passer and has shown flashes of being a good outside shooter.

Can help us, tho tbh I would love to see Vonleh beat him out.

[Bohemian]

Good signing for the minimum. We surely needed bigs, and Blake can still pass and score some. He is also a veteran who is respected out there.

Well done, Brad.

[Feed Your Head]

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[neno]

As long as he's tradable I guess

[bisme37]

If he plays a lot it's probably not ideal but he can help a bit and I think he'll fit in great in the locker room. Welcome Blake.

[Feed Your Head]

If he was a slam dunk, he wouldn't have been signed by a team to the minimum after media day. Understandable that some fans hate the signing. My bare expectation is he stays upright until Rob comes back. Vets learn schemes easier. I think he'll be useful for spot bench minutes in the regular season. If he's not out there, something physical is preventing him to. Griffin's one of the higher IQ guys left among the unsigned vets.

I mean I don't love the signing but I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it. It's a vet min big guy for depth that won't play a ton of minutes. Hopefully there is still some fumes in the tank.

Nerd time, and it surprised me. But Blake was actually a really good interior defender last year.

Rim contest rate: 83rd percentile
Rim protector: 81st percentile
Post defense: 86th percentile
Screener rim defense: 80th percentile

That’s what I get for making assumptions based on a small sample lol.

Just to take this a step further. I figured Blake would struggle defending in space against the PnR. I was wrong again, he was in the 73rd percentile last year. I’ll take passable, but it looks like he could be decent.

[sam_I_am]

I think this signing is insurance that at a minimum we have a veteran with playoff experience to keep coaches from overplaying Al. Hopefully one of younger bigs makes him a daily DNP.

[chrisab123]

Celtics fans before the signing: we really need a veteran big. Why is Kornet the top backup on this team

Celtics fans after the signing: why the hell did we sign Blake? Is he better than Kornet?

I love this bi polar board

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

As long as he's tradable I guess

You read it's a one-year contract and not a multi-year contact? I wouldn't be that concerned about whether he's tradable or not.

[Andrew McCeltic]

I mean I don't love the signing but I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it. It's a vet min big guy for depth that won't play a ton of minutes. Hopefully there is still some fumes in the tank.

Nerd time, and it surprised me. But Blake was actually a really good interior defender last year.

Rim contest rate: 83rd percentile
Rim protector: 81st percentile
Post defense: 86th percentile
Screener rim defense: 80th percentile

That’s what I get for making assumptions based on a small sample lol.

Just to take this a step further. I figured Blake would struggle defending in space against the PnR. I was wrong again, he was in the 73rd percentile last year. I’ll take passable, but it looks like he could be decent.

I mean, that's a B- rim defender, C- pick and roll... better than I would've guessed, too. Competent, above average...

Where'd you find those stats btw

[Karate Diop]

I mean I don't love the signing but I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it. It's a vet min big guy for depth that won't play a ton of minutes. Hopefully there is still some fumes in the tank.

Nerd time, and it surprised me. But Blake was actually a really good interior defender last year.

Rim contest rate: 83rd percentile
Rim protector: 81st percentile
Post defense: 86th percentile
Screener rim defense: 80th percentile

That’s what I get for making assumptions based on a small sample lol.

Just to take this a step further. I figured Blake would struggle defending in space against the PnR. I was wrong again, he was in the 73rd percentile last year. I’ll take passable, but it looks like he could be decent.

It's not really his defense that's a concern anymore it's his offense. Defensively he plays with passion and heart, is extremely strong and makes all the hustle plays.

His consistency dropped a bit last year, but he really should have never fallen out of the rotation - why he did is only known to Nash.

As long as he accepts spot minute / matchup specific playing time this is a good signing.

Will bring some of that toughness that the Celtics don't necessarily have (no offense).

[bisme37]

I'm looking forward to the very entertaining relationship that's sure to develop between Blake and Grant lol.

[165bows]

Blake is a very good passer, and is a good pick and pop guy. For 15 minutes a game in the regular season, he does the trick.

This team looooooves big men that can pass and handle.

Wasn’t expecting this move but maybe I should have been lol.

On the bright side he’s one of those dudes that is just a physical competitive guy so it doesn’t surprise me he’s been training hard enough to look good even though he’s totally different than he was.

[zoyathedestroya]

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[Feed Your Head]

Nerd time, and it surprised me. But Blake was actually a really good interior defender last year.

Rim contest rate: 83rd percentile
Rim protector: 81st percentile
Post defense: 86th percentile
Screener rim defense: 80th percentile

That’s what I get for making assumptions based on a small sample lol.

Just to take this a step further. I figured Blake would struggle defending in space against the PnR. I was wrong again, he was in the 73rd percentile last year. I’ll take passable, but it looks like he could be decent.

I mean, that's a B- rim defender, C- pick and roll... better than I would've guessed, too. Competent, above average...

Where'd you find those stats btw

Bball index subscription.

[FlatearthZorro]

Feel like I would have rather had Hassan Whiteside.

Same. We kinda needed a real center. Grifin can pass, rebound and is more mobile, better 3 point shooter.

[Shak_Celts]

People are acting like JB didn't carve up Dray, had him looking like he was only slightly better than Blake at times. Dray could have easily been DPOY and not many would have questioned it (health was a factor). I'm not going to hold what happened during his first minutes in a long time against him.

What I'm holding against someone (haven't figured out who), is that he wasn't getting minutes with BKN when they were desperate before the jays lit him up! That makes me think he's terrible and I prefer giving an early chance to Beefy (kabengele).

With that said, he's a Celtics, watch me think he's going to be a key player after a few videos lol. The things my brain will lead me to believe (yikes). After day 1 I started to think Korny might be something, that's simply based on him practicing as a starter! Delusion is real! (or is it delirium?)