5 free agents the Miami Heat should target in 2017 free agency

1. Blake Griffin, PF, L.A. Clippers

The best player available for Miami to go after considering talent and team need is Blake Griffin. If it weren’t for the way Griffin’s last season ended (suspension and injury), and how this season has gone (just injury), this list would have simply been me thinking up five different ways for Riley to woo him instead.

Unfortunately, Griffin has had his fair share of injury troubles, both early on in his career and more recently. After a fast start to the season, both by the Clippers and their power forward, Griffin was forced to go through arthroscopic knee surgery to, “clean up loose bodies in his knee.” To a layman like me, that doesn’t sound good.

Considering all that’s happened with Bosh, one has to wonder whether Riley would even want to get himself into another situation involving a player who struggles to stay healthy. Griffin, though, is good enough to chance it.

Before going down, he was averaging 21 points, to go with nine boards and five assists. He’s not a three-point shooter whatsoever, so it’s alright to question how he would fit alongside Whiteside. But the fact that Griffin is familiar with making a similar situation work with DeAndre Jordan, a player often likened to Whiteside, that makes this potential fit all the more enticing. Let’s not forget, the Heat also have coach Spoelstra, who’s great at tailoring his offenses to match his personnel.

Next: James Johnson should be an off-season priority for the Heat

What we have to ask next is: would Griffin ever seriously consider leaving the Clippers? I don’t think he has much of a choice. Los Angeles is probably one more playoff failure away from blowing the whole thing up anyways. And who would be there, looking through the wreckage, seeking out the scraps he could turn into his own treasures? You can guess who.