Lost in the fact that Blake Griffin signed a five-year max contract to stay with the Clippers this summer was the fact he had foot surgery just after the season ended.
This was no minor surgery either, the surgery was to repair the plantar plate for the big toe of his right foot, the plate that connects the toe to the ball of the foot. Griffin tore his midway through the first round of the playoffs and his season was done. While traditionally recovery from that surgery lasts three months or so, there were rumors at Summer League that Griffin could be out longer, maybe into the season.
That’s not what he told Jovan Buha of ESPN, although Griffin was careful not to put a timetable on himself.
Blake Griffin says he's met with five foot specialists and a return during training camp is realistic.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) July 19, 2017
Griffin spent most of the press conference talking about how he never wanted to be anywhere else but Los Angeles.
The Clippers did as good a job as could have been expected recovering from the Chris Paul forced trade, plus losing J.J. Redick in free agency. They retained Griffin, signed Danilo Gallinari, and in the trade with Houston got Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, and Montrezl Harrell. They already have an elite center in DeAndre Jordan locked up. That could be a playoff team in the West.
The question is how many healthy games the Clippers get out of Griffin and Gallinari, two guys with injury histories. It looks like Griffin will be there at the start of the season, and the Clippers hope during training camp, because this is a lot of new faces to fit together in a new style.
