The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly eyeing Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin next summer as the teams plans to partner him with fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook moving forward.
With the Thunder already securing Westbrook for the medium-term after reaching a three-year $85 million deal with the five-time NBA All-Star, next in OKC's plans is said to be the acquisition of Oklahoma City native Blake Griffin next summer.
The 27-year-old Griffin is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July next year with an early termination option (ETO) clause in his contract at the end of next season. Rumors had been circling around the league that he wants to test the free agency market in 2017 for a possible huge payday and a way to get out of his current unsatisfying situation in Los Angeles with Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan.
Also a five-time All-Star, Griffin is entering the fourth season of his five-year, $94.5 million contract with the Clippers.
CBS Sports reported that Griffin and Paul are having 'tensions" in LA, which said to have kept the team from going deeper into the playoffs. The two players had led the Clippers in the postseason in the past five seasons, but they had never went past the conference semifinals in all of their five playoffs appearances together.
The report said that "Paul's stern leadership and overbearing obsession with winning led to tension" that also "nearly drove DeAndre Jordan to Dallas before last summer's intervention at his house to convince him to go back on his agreement with the Mavericks".
Griffin's recent injury history and arguments with the team's staff off the court have reportedly made the club consider trading him this summer, but head coach Doc Rivers was adamant that he just stay right where he is.
Speculations abound this summer that the 6-foot-10 high-flying power forward is "available" in the trading market even when the Clippers were insistent that he is not and that the rumors was only "being manufactured by other teams" who are interested in snagging him away from LA.
Meanwhile, Fansided noted that OKC "wanting to pair Westbrook with another superstar is obvious" as Thunder general manager Sam Presti had been clear that he "wants to establish a quick 'rebuild' to load up on the immense talent they still have in place" with Westbrook deciding to stick around.