Jeff Green/Photo courtesy of Memhis Grizzlies
Doc Rivers, head coach and president of basketball operations for the L.A. Clippers, told every reporter who asked he was not going to trade Blake Griffin by Thursday’s deadline. He apparently grew so tired of the inquiries that he even got huffy with a reporter Tuesday when he asked Rivers if he has received a lot of calls regarding Griffin’s services.
“It’s none of your business,” he said.
Well, the deadline came and went, and Griffin was still with the Clippers. However, Rivers never said he wouldn’t trade guard/forward Lance Stephenson, and Stephenson was shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies for forward Jeff Green just before the noon (Pacific time) cutoff. The Clippers also gave up a 2019 protected first-round draft pick.
There were rumors Griffin would be traded, but they did not come to fruition. One deal that was supposedly discussed had Griffin and Stephenson going to Denver for Kenneth Faried, Nikola Jokic, Danilo Gallinari and Will Barton.
Griffin, the Clippers’ leading scorer at 23.2 points, has missed the past 23 games, during which the Clippers have gone 18-5. He’s had a partially torn left quad tendon. More recently, he fractured his right hand punching Matias Testi, the team’s assistant equipment manager, on Jan. 23 at a restaurant in Toronto.
Stephenson’s name surfaced in another rumor that had him going to Orlando for power forward Channing Frye. But Frye ended up being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a three-team deal that included the Portland Trail Blazers.
Green, 29, had started 31 of 53 games this season for Memphis. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and shot 43.1 percent from the floor – just 30.9 percent (42 of 136) from 3-point range.
Green played for Rivers at Boston for parts of two seasons before Rivers came to the Clippers in 2013-14.
Green has career scoring and rebounding averages of 14.1 and 5.0, respectively.
Stephenson played in 43 of the Clippers’ 53 games, starting 10. He averaged 4.7 points and 2.5 rebounds.
The Clippers also announced they will sign power forward Alex Stephenson to a 10-day contract. Stephenson is out of USC.
