Dana Gauruder

Special to the Detroit Free Press

Blake Griffin tries not to dwell on what might have been.

With better health, the Detroit Pistons could be gearing up for a second consecutive trip to the playoffs.

Instead, the roster they had coming out of training camp has been gutted.

With the team out of the playoff race by midseason, Andre Drummond was traded to Cleveland, and Reggie Jackson and Markieff Morris were bought out of their contacts and joined title contenders in Los Angeles.

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The dominoes started to fall when Griffin missed the season's first 10 games due to knee and hamstring injuries, then couldn't regain the All-Star form he displayed last season. He required season-ending knee surgery in early January, and lengthy injuries to Jackson and Luke Kennard sealed the team's fate.

"You can always sit and say 'What could have been if everybody was healthy?' I'm sure there's plenty of teams throughout the course of history that can say that," Griffin said Friday in his first extensive comments since undergoing surgery. "But what good does that do? Nothing, really. So you move on, move forward and concentrate on what you can control."

Griffin's season was limited to 18 games and averages of 15.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists, a huge drop-off from his career-high of 24.5 points per game, 7.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists last season. His shooting dropped 11% to 35.2%, including an abysmal 24.3% from 3.

"I was sort of trying to build back into it," Griffin said. "Didn't necessarily feel 100%. But it's sort of like that thing in the back of your mind of trying to ignore those things and push through it. To say 'OK, if I get to this point, if I get to that point, I'll be fine.' It just never got there, really, and it was pretty apparent. I think we made the right decision."

Griffin is making good progress after the arthroscopic debridement of his left knee, the second surgical procedure he had on the knee in less than nine months — he had surgery in April after the Pistons were swept from the playoffs. His latest rehab has gone well and he expects to do his usual offseason training regimen and be ready to go by training camp.

The front office's decision to go into full rebuild puts Griffin in a difficult spot. He'll find himself surrounded by much younger players without any hope of winning a title in the near future.

He hasn't discussed his future with the front office, though with a guaranteed $36.8 million cap charge for next season and a 2021-22 player option worth $38.9 million, his contract would be nearly impossible to move in a trade.

"My focus is on what I can control and that's my rehab and getting back on the court," he said. "When the time comes, I'll have that conversation but I don't think that time is right now."

Will he ever come close to being the dominant player that carried the franchise into the postseason last spring? Griffin shrugs off the question.

"It's not even a thought that crosses my mind," he said.