Despite the Pistons’ futility, Blake Griffin is making history in Detroit

 

Later this month will mark the one-year anniversary of the Detroit Pistons trading for Blake Griffin.

A lot has changed since that night in January 2018.

Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower have been replaced by Dwane Casey and Ed Stefanski.

The ruler of the Eastern Conference that was LeBron James is now west of the Mississippi River.

Finally, the Pistons yield an offensive force the likes of which they haven’t seen since the color teal adorned their uniforms.

That force is the 29-year-old Griffin, who has resurrected his career halfway through the 2018-19 NBA season. At the time of this post, he’s averaging 25.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 48.0 percent from the floor and 33.5 percent from deep.

Those are All-Star worthy numbers, and it’s very likely that he’ll represent the Pistons during February’s annual exhibition in Charlotte. But that stat line is only a small indicator of just how special his 2018-19 campaign has been up to this point.

If the season ended today, Blake Griffin’s scoring average of 25.5 (a career-high) would rank eighth all-time in franchise history. Only Jerry Stackhouse, George Yardley, Dave Bing (who did it twice), Kelly Tripucka, Grant Hill and Bob Lanier have averaged more points per game in a single season as a Piston.

Four of those men are in the Hall of Fame, and two of them have their numbers retired in the rafters at Little Caesars Arena.

Remember, the Pistons joined the NBA in 1948. Griffin could become just the seventh player in team history to average at least 25 points per game in a season.

Milestones such as these aren’t met very often. He’s in the midst of something remarkable.

Griffin’s current usage percentage of 29.7 is also the sixth-highest in Pistons’ history, and the second-highest of his career. He leads the NBA in touches per game with 93.8. Detroit’s offense doesn’t just run through Griffin, it is Griffin.

When he’s not operating with the ball in isolation, he’s facilitating to his teammates as a point forward. Not surprisingly, the five-time NBA All-Star leads the club in assists per game.

The Pistons generate clean looks from beyond the arc thanks to the double teams that Griffin commands. Once a second defender clamps down onto him in the post, he kicks the ball back out to the open man. Shooting guard Reggie Bullock is the usually the benefactor of those catch-and-shoot opportunities.

When No. 23 is on the floor, Detroit is scoring 113.4 points per 100 possessions. That offensive rating drops to 104.4 the moment Griffin steps off the hardwood. So, for the roughly 11.9 minutes per game that he’s on the bench, the Pistons’ offense is treading water.

Arguably, the only knock on Griffin is that he is one man. In other words, there’s only so much he can do for Detroit.

Basketball is a team sport. Griffin’s individual dominance on a mediocre club with a 19-24 record is evident of that.

Take him off the Pistons, and they’d have no go-to scorer. They’d have no true play-maker. Most importantly, they’d be without a player that can constantly shoulder the offensive burden – and even that ability only takes a team so far.

For a fan base that hasn’t seen a playoff victory in over 10 years, it may be hard to appreciate individual success while suffering through collective ineptitude.

Still, it shouldn’t be unfamiliar to those who watched Bing, Lanier and Hill experience the same process. Some of the best to ever wear a Pistons’ jersey were the franchise’s lone bright spot in a constant storm of chaos.

Maybe Griffin is destined for that same fate.

Then again, maybe not. Who knows what the final 39 games will bring this season?

Come April, the 2018-19 Detroit Pistons could very well be an afterthought. Blake Griffin’s ninth year in the NBA should be anything but.