Tag: David Griffin

In his first appearance with the media since last week’s trade deadline, Lonzo Ball revealed his thoughts on remaining in New Orleans, a place he said he wanted to be.

“I’m happy to be here,” Ball “It was a long day, an interesting day. But, overall, I ended up not getting moved and staying here where I wanted to be so it all worked out how it was supposed to.”

Ball was in the center of rumors for weeks leading up to the deadline. The Chicago Bulls were the most serious suitor for Ball but nothing of note came of their interest. It ended with Ball staying in New Orleans, a place he’s stated multiple times he wants to remain.

“I’m just comfortable here,” Ball said. “I also love playing with (Zion) and (Ingram). We have a lot of young guys and I think we can be good in the time coming.”

Following the deadline, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin addressed the media. He, too, revealed that Ball had made it clear to him that he wants to remain in New Orleans as well.

“He loves his teammates. He’s made it very clear personally, 1-to-1, that he wants to be here. And yet, what you will read ‘This is a player who doesn’t want to be here. He’s clearly not in our plans so you should trade him for a ham sandwich.’ Well, that doesn’t make any sense when we know the actual real story behind Lonzo Ball.”

The summer will likely present the same predicament between Ball and the Pelicans. Ball is set for restricted free agency and rumors have already begun that the two sides could be far apart on negotiations.

“I just try to stay in the now,” Ball said about upcoming free agency. “I’m trying to get back on the court as fast as possible and make the playoffs. That’s all I’m worried about right now. I’ll think about the summer when the summer comes. For right now, it’s just about getting back on the court and playing.”

The present for Ball and the Pelicans has seen the fourth-year guard miss the team’s last five games with a right hip flexor strain. However, Ball appears to be close to returning to the court.

“It’s a minor setback,” Ball said. “Obviously, I want to be out there but a hip flexor (injury), I don’t want to play with that. So, I’ll wait until I’m comfortable to get on the court and moving fluently and after that, I’m ready to go and then I’ll get out there and do what I’m supposed to do.”

The Pelicans are set to play on Thursday against the Magic. Ball’s last game for New Orleans will be two weeks ago on Thursday in a loss to the Blazers.

On Tuesday, rumors surfaced that the New Orleans Pelicans had received calls and were open to trading Lonzo Ball and JJ Redick. It wasn’t a surprising development that the Pelicans, who were 5-10 at the time, were open to trades. But the inclusion of Ball resulted in some raised eyebrows.

Ball responded with an impressive first half on Wednesday against the Wizards before exiting the game just before halftime with an ankle injury. After the game, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson voiced their support of Ball.

However, that will not silence the trade rumors.

On the “Pelicans Weekly Show” hosted by radio play-by-play voice Todd Graffagnini on Thursday, Pelicans executive vice-president of basketball operations David Griffin appeared and discussed the trade rumors, including addressing Ball directly with an illuminating response.

“In times like these, the fact that we’re trying to build a culture that’s really designed around family here really matters. We want to love each other enough to tell each other what we need to hear and that means you have to be really honest with guys at all times. I think our players trust this place enough and trust us enough to know that’s the case, that we will tell them the truth. The truth is, when you’re 6-10 and you’re struggling to finish off games (and) you’re disappointed in your results, teams are going to recognize that and are going to show interest in those players they covet. This just comes with the territory and I think to varying different degrees, different players handle these things differently.

Throughout my career, I’ve had to sit down with guys and talk to them at times like this and I think you saw Lonzo Ball come out in the first half (on Wednesday) prior to turning his ankle and have one of his best halves of the year. I think he just realized and compartmentalized in his situation that it’s a good thing that people bring up your name. It means you are coveted by other teams and I think you just have to take that as a positive and understand that the way the business works is quite often acquiring teams will throw your name out there and hope there’s blood in the water. This is just how it goes when your results are not meeting your expectations.”

Unsurprisingly, Griffin painted being included in trade rumors in a very….different light. While it is true that some teams may smell blood in the water and look to stir the pot with various players, those players have to be seen as attainable for acquiring teams to leak the rumors.

Along the same lines, the report did not simply indicate that the Pelicans were fielding calls from teams but that they were also open to making a deal. While not unexpected given his position, Griffin painted the talks as very one-sided.

Consider how Griffin framed the trade discussions involving Jrue Holiday just 11 days before Holiday was dealt to Milwaukee

“…This is something when you read something like that, you think something must’ve happened as though it was newsworthy that we were listening to trade discussions around a player. That’s our job. We’ve done that since I got here. We’ve had similar conversations at last year’s trade deadline. No one is actively trying to do anything different than we were before. We’re trying to build a team that can be highly competitive today and build toward a sustainable future.

If that means that Jrue is part of that, that’s special for us because he loves being with us and we love the way he plays. If the best way to build toward the future and the best way to put him in the best position to succeed is for him to be traded, that’s what ends up happening. But those things come about because you’re trying to build toward a sustainable future and Jrue is trying to put himself in the best position to win.”

Again, a very kind way of framing what ultimately ended up being substantial trade conversations. Griffin has a job, especially when speaking publicly on behalf of the team but his words should come with multiple grains of salt.