Danny Granger completed his buyout with the Philadelphia 76ers and now will be joining the Los Angeles Clippers and this follows his trade from the Indiana Pacers to the Sixers for Evan Turner and gives him a chance to make the playoffs with a contending team.
Granger and the Sixers negotiated a buyout after the trade from the Pacers and while Granger gives up some of his leverage when he is a free agent next year, the star now also gets the chance to play for a contender rather than stay in Philly. According to ESPN.com, a deal is on its way to being complete and Granger has decided on the Clippers and this comes after interest from a number of contending teams, including the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks. Players like Jimmer Fredette or Caron Butler could be options for those teams.
Granger is coming off of a rough stretch of years, as he missed all of last season apart from five games with a knee injury and he was averaging less than 10 points off the bench for the Pacers this season. Granger was the best player on the team for a long period of time and was an All-Star, but his knee injury knocked him out of things for the Pacers and they got elite last season and he was not a part of it, which gave Lance Stephenson the chance to grab his starting job and he has yet to give it back.
Granger was not the player he once was and the Pacers knew that, so they opted to trade him and his $14 million expiring contract to the Sixers for Evan Turner, a former number two overall pick that has been playing very well this season. Granger now will get the chance to play "meaningful minutes" for the Clippers and there is a chance that he could play on Saturday against the Pelicans at the Staples Center.
The Clipper had been looking to upgrade on the wing and now Granger is in and Doc Rivers now is putting together a deep roster for the playoffs. Glen Davis signed after he played for Rivers in Boston after his buyout from the Orlando Magic and now the Clippers feel they have a team that can contend out west. The room on the roster was made after trades for Byron Mullens and Antawn Jamison and now Granger and Davis are in for the first place team in the pacific division.
Granger is coming to the Clippers after playing in 29 games this season with the Pacers and he was averaging 22 minutes per game and averages just less than nine points per game and he was in the final year of his deal. The San Antonio Spurs were considered the next best option for Granger and he now will be in LA.
