NBA trade rumors 2016: Oklahoma City Thunder keen on acquiring Blake Griffin; Superstar's alma mater hopes he will play in OKC
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is still rife with trade rumors, and now it is all about Los Angeles Clippers top man Blake Griffin, who is one of the biggest fishes in the sea at the moment.
According to a new set of trade rumors, the Oklahoma City Thunder is planning a deal with the Clippers to acquire Griffin. The OKC plans to pair up the power forward with Russell Westbrook, who just extended his contract with OKC.
The Thunder suffered a huge setback following the exit for franchise superstar Kevin Durant, who bolted to the Golden State Warriors, making the team a force to be reckoned with next season.
Although Griffin will put his talent in immense use with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer points out that there is a great risk in acquiring him this season, and that is the fact that he will be a free agent after a year.
"Even if the Clippers wanted to trade Griffin, he's a free agent next summer, which gives him control of his destiny. No team will give up what it would take to acquire Griffin without the assurance he'd actually extend his contract," O'Connor wrote.
"There probably aren't many places where he would go, and that list would get shorter once you cross-reference it with teams that have enough assets," he explained.
However, as previously reported, the Thunder will be going for Griffin not this year, but next year instead and it appears that his alma mater Oklahoma University is all for the switch.
During an alumni game, voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland pitched the idea for the superstar to move to the Oklahoma City Thunder soon.
"Blake, I thought it was a thunderous start for your team in this game," Rowland said. "Tell your team to come out like thunder in the second half," he added.