LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles Clippers have reached a deal with the Detroit Pistons to trade forward Blake Griffin, the team's face and the biggest basketball star in the city, local media reported Monday.
As a package exchange, besides Griffin, the Clippers will send out center Willie Reed and forward Brice Johnson, while taking guard Avery Bradley, forward Tobias Harris, center Boban Marjanovic and a future first-round pick from the Detroit Pistons.
The stunning swap comes just seven months after Griffin, the five-time All-Star, signed a massive 171 million U.S. dollars free agent deal that was supposed to cement his place as a Clipper for life.
The Deadline, a leading entertainment website based in Los Angeles speculates that since none of the arriving players are stars of Griffin's caliber, the deal means at minimum that the Clippers have given up on this season, and the team may trade remaining stars DeAndre Jordan and Lou Williams before the February 8th NBA trade deadline.
The Clippers record 25-24, standing at 9th place in the Western Conference on the periphery of the playoff race. The Pistons are even worse off at 22-26. They also stand at 9th in the Eastern Conference, and this season their home attendance is only listed as 19th in the league, despite playing in a brand new building.
After Clippers owner Steve Ballmer made the abrupt decision, the mood within the team was "terrible," the report said.
