Boston Celtics are a big threat to lure Blake Griffin away from L.A.

With free agency just under a month away, the Boston Celtics are considered major suitors for two of the top prizes on the market.

Boston Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck promised fireworks a few summers ago. After lighting some fireworks in the summer of 2016 with the signing of Al Horford, the Atlantic Division champions are primed to deliver on that promise.

Not only is the team a leading candidate to sign Gordon Hayward (if he hits the market), they apparently are a big threat to land free agent Blake Griffin. This according to Adrian Wojnarowski on his most recent podcast, Vertical Podcast with Woj.

Although the Celtics interest in Griffin is nothing new, the fact that they could be a major contender is exciting. Like Horford, Wojnarowski said Griffin was very impressed with the Celtics fan base and the way they celebrated Paul Pierce in his last trip to TD Garden.

"“Blake Griffin was there when Paul Pierce came in for his last game with the Clippers,” Wojnarowski said on the podcast, via NESN. “He saw how Boston reacted to Paul Pierce and what it means to have been a great player in Boston. It did not go unnoticed with him about how that building loved Paul. They are certainly a threat in this.”"

The All-Star forward would get a chance to really transcend his career if he does sign with the Celtics. Not that the Los Angeles market isn’t great for basketball starts, but you never really got the sense that the Clippers were Griffin’s team.

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Playing alongside Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan, Griffin was prominent in the team’s success, but all three were never really able to take the Clippers to the destination known as the NBA Finals.

Griffin has what the Celtics need

If the Celtics were to sign Blake Griffin, they would take care some of their rebounding needs. Not only that, Griffin is an athletic big man who has developed a nice little jumper and could compliment Al Horford nicely.

In my opinion, he could succeed greatly in Boston, but the team also signing Gordon Hayward would be key to the team’s heightened potential next season.

With a nucleus of Hayward, Griffin, Isaiah Thomas and Al Horford, the Boston Celtics could push LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers beyond five games if the two were to meet again in the playoffs.

Of course, financially that scenario is only possible if Thomas is willing to take less than a max deal to stay in Boston. He has indicated that he is willing to do just that. But Danny Ainge and the Celtics wouldn’t have to worry about that until the 2018 season.

If all failed with Thomas, Boston could have Markelle Fultz ready to take over at point guard. Overall, there are a lot of “ifs,” but at least the Celtics have opportunities to trigger fireworks in the draft, free agency and via trade.

If they don’t do it in the summer of 2017, they may never do it.

Next: This is just the beginning of the Andrew Benintendi heroics

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