After a bizarre situation in Indiana where they traded their eight-year player Danny Granger to the Philadelphia 76ers for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen, the 76ers bought out his contract and released him. Granger was then rumored to want to sign with the Miami Heat, to seek revenge on the Pacers for trading him. However, as of today, Danny Granger is now a Los Angeles Clipper.
Granger chose the Clippers over interest from the Heat, Spurs, Rockets, and Mavericks, who were all in close talks of signing him. On Friday at 5:00 pm Granger is expected to clear waivers and the signing will be made official. If no team claims him by that time, he can officially sign with Clippers.
The Clippers have just landed a tremendous asset, in fact, it was a steal to acquire Granger. Not only did they not have to trade anything for him, but they also got him at less than the $15 million his contract was supposed to pay him this season. Granger averaged only 8.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 22 minutes per game with the Pacers, and featured in only 29 games after struggling with injuries. However, his career stats are 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. If the 30-yea- old can withstand all the injuries he’s had in the past few seasons, and regain some of his old form, he can be a tremendous asset for the Clippers especially come playoff time.
The Clippers also signed power forward Glen Davis a few days ago, and with the acquisition of a reliable scorer and rebounder like Granger, the Clippers could make a serious push to try and move up in the Western Conference standings for the sake of homecourt advantage deeper into the playoffs.
The Clippers projecting starting lineup would be: point guard Chris Paul, shooting guard Jamal Crawford, small forward Danny Granger, power forward Blake Griffin, and center DeAndre Jordan. With Matt Barnes and Glen Davis coming off the bench, along with an improving point guard in Darren Collison, and possibly small forward Jared Dudley, the Clippers have a very complete team, and their depth will play advantage for them come postseason. The acquisition of Granger should also help fill the void left by shooting guard JJ Redick, who has missed the past nine games and is out indefinitely with a back injury.
When you put all the pices the Clippers already have with a guy like Danny Granger, you have a very dangerous and capable team. Watch out Western Conference, because the Clippers are on the rise. They’re in fourth place in the West now, but we could watch them climb to as high as secondnd before the end of the regular season, and possibly make a championship contention run in the playoffs.
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