Five teams that may be interested in Blake Griffin this summer

The regular season isn’t even over yet, but people are already talking about free agency and Blake Griffin.

The All-Star forward was mentioned in article by Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding published this week that hints Griffin could be open to a fresh start with another team this summer instead of re-signing with the Los Angeles Clippers.

This is potentially huge if it were to happen. Griffin is one of the best players at his position and would tempt several teams if he became available. Here are five teams that may be interested this summer:

Boston Celtics

According to Ding, the Celtics have “coveted Griffin for years and would offer a chance to win.” There’s no denying that. Boston is set up to be a contender for the next couple of years with all the young talent it has on the roster, and adding Griffin to that mix would only better the Celtics’ chances of competing for a title.

But as cbssports.com’s James Herbert points out, signing Griffin would be difficult in their current financial situation:

Jumping to another contender on a max contract might not be simple. As CelticsBlog’s Keith P. Smith pointed out, Boston would have to dump Terry Rozier, waive Tyler Zeller and renounce all its free agents, including Kelly Olynyk, Jonas Jerebko and Amir Johnson, in order to even get near the amount of cap room that would be required to offer Griffin or someone like Gordon Hayward a max deal.

Still, that doesn’t rule out Boston as a potential landing spot for Griffin. If the Celtics want him bad enough, they’ll find a way to make it work.

Los Angeles Lakers

Ding also notes that staying in Los Angeles is a priority for Griffin because of his interests in the entertainment industry. The Lakers definitely meet that criteria, but Griffin would have to sacrifice winning.

LA has missed the playoffs four straight years and doesn’t appear to be close to returning to the postseason unless the front office makes some monumental changes to the roster. If Griffin doesn’t mind playing on a team of young guys that probably won’t contend for another three to five years, then the Lakers are a possibility. But if staying in LA is so important, then staying with the Clippers is the best option, especially if the team retains Chris Paul and J.J. Redick this summer.

Oklahoma City Thunder

If Griffin is yearning to return home to Oklahoma City where he played his high school and college ball, then the Thunder is right up his alley. The possibility of joining forces with Russell Westbrook could be overly tempting to Griffin. Not that Paul isn’t one of the best floor generals in the NBA, but Westbrook is a younger, more athletic point guard and in his prime, whereas Paul’s skills will soon be diminishing after turning 32 in May.

One can assume that the Thunder have been planning to pair Westbrook with another star player ever since Kevin Durant left to Golden State last summer. Griffin, while not quite the superstar that KD was, is still an above average replacement.

Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets reportedly inquired about Griffin before the trade deadline last month, but the Clippers weren’t interested. It was also rumored that the Clippers had in fact offered Griffin in a trade with the Nuggets, but LA wanted too much back. Now that Griffin is expected to opt out of his contract and become a free agent, the Nuggets can freely pursue the star big man without worrying about giving up their young guys in return.

Nuggets GM Tim Connelly has quietly built a good, young team capable of contending in the Western Conference. However, Denver lacks a true star player to rally behind, and Griffin would obviously fill that role without question. He’d also be playing alongside one of the best, young centers in the game in Nikola Jokic.

Together, Jokic and Griffin would make quite the frontcourt duo. Not as intimidating as what the New Orleans Pelicans have in Boogie and The Brow, but a pretty good duo nonetheless.

Miami Heat

With the Big 3 no longer in town, the Heat must be craving to add some star power to their roster. Hassan Whiteside is a good player and so is Goran Dragic, but they pale in comparison to what the Heat had in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Bringing in Griffin would help their image in the Eastern Conference and give them a true No. 1 scoring option.

And with Whiteside protecting the rim, the Heat would feel similar to what Griffin has in LA with DeAndre Jordan. Griffin hasn’t been much of a shot-blocker in his career, choosing instead to be more of an offensive player. With Whiteside there to lock down the paint, Griffin can focus more on generating offense, which he’s pretty good at.

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