Last Updated on April 3, 2026 by Mat Diekhake
Blake Griffin’s contract history is one of the more dramatic superstar salary arcs of his NBA era. It starts with a No. 1 overall rookie-scale deal with the Clippers in 2009, rises into a designated rookie extension in 2012, peaks with a new five-year maximum contract in 2017, and then turns sharply when the Clippers traded him to Detroit only months after re-signing him. (SalarySwish)
That is what makes Blake Griffin contract history stronger than a thin salary post. There is a real career arc behind the numbers: franchise-player money in Los Angeles, a sudden trade-kicker-triggering move to Detroit, a 2021 buyout that reshaped the back end of his earnings, and then late-career minimum deals with Brooklyn and Boston before his retirement in April 2024. (SalarySwish)
Spotrac lists Griffin’s total NBA career earnings at $277,038,333 across four teams: the Clippers, Pistons, Nets, and Celtics. (spotrac.com)
Blake Griffin Contract Agreements (As Signed)
This table tracks the key contract events in Blake Griffin’s NBA career: draft entry, rookie deal, option decisions, extensions, trade movement, buyout, later free-agent signings, and retirement. Dates, terms, options, and buyout details are compiled from Spotrac, SalarySwish, ESPN/AP reporting, and official team or league announcements. (SalarySwish)
| DATE | AGE | TEAM | CONTRACT MOVE | REPORTED TERMS | SEASONS AFFECTED | CLAUSES / OPTIONS | DETAILED NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 25, 2009 | 20 | Los Angeles Clippers | Drafted No. 1 overall | Selected first overall in the 2009 NBA Draft | Draft rights only | Draft rights acquired | This is the starting point of Blake Griffin’s NBA contract history. The Clippers used the top pick on him and then moved quickly to put him on a standard rookie-scale structure. |
| July 8, 2009 | 20 | Los Angeles Clippers | Signed rookie-scale contract | 4 years, $23,298,732 | 2009-10 to 2012-13 | Third- and fourth-year team options | Griffin signed his first NBA contract less than two weeks after the draft. Even though a knee injury wiped out his entire 2009-10 playing season, the contract still began running immediately. |
| September 28, 2010 | 21 | Los Angeles Clippers | Team option exercised | 2011-12 option picked up | 2011-12 | Team option | The Clippers exercised Griffin’s third-year option before he had even appeared in a regular-season game, which shows how firm their long-term commitment already was. |
| June 14, 2011 | 22 | Los Angeles Clippers | Team option exercised | 2012-13 option picked up | 2012-13 | Team option | This completed the full rookie-scale run and kept Griffin under team control through the summer of 2013. |
| July 11, 2012 | 23 | Los Angeles Clippers | Signed designated rookie extension | Commonly reported as 5 years, about $95 million; cap sites log the exact value at $94,538,626 | 2013-14 to 2017-18 | Early termination option in 2017; 15% trade kicker | This was the major second contract of Griffin’s career. Contemporary reporting described it as a five-year extension worth nearly $100 million, with Rose Rule upside depending on award criteria. |
| June 20, 2017 | 28 | Los Angeles Clippers | Early termination option exercised | Opted out of final extension year | 2017 offseason | ETO used | Griffin declined the final season of his 2012 extension so he could enter free agency and negotiate a new maximum-level contract with the Clippers. |
| July 17, 2017 | 28 | Los Angeles Clippers | Re-signed with Clippers | Reported as 5 years, $173 million; cap sites list the exact contract at $171,174,820 | 2017-18 to 2021-22 | Fifth-year player option; no no-trade clause; trade kicker applied | The Clippers recommitted to Griffin on a new max deal after Chris Paul’s exit, but the contract did not include a no-trade clause. That omission became highly relevant only months later. |
| January 29, 2018 | 28 | Detroit Pistons | Traded to Detroit | Existing 2017 max contract moved to Pistons | 2017-18 onward | 15% trade kicker triggered | This is the sharpest turn in Griffin’s contract story. The Clippers moved him to Detroit less than a year after the free-agency presentation and new max agreement. |
| March 5, 2021 | 31 | Detroit Pistons | Contract buyout / waived | Griffin gave back $13.3 million in the buyout | 2020-21 and 2021-22 money restructured | Player-option year remained part of the remaining money picture | Detroit and Griffin agreed to a buyout after the club pivoted fully into a rebuild. It ended the Pistons phase of his max contract and turned him into an unrestricted free agent. |
| March 8, 2021 | 31 | Brooklyn Nets | Signed rest-of-season contract | 1 year, $1,229,676 | Rest of 2020-21 | Minimum contract | Griffin joined Brooklyn on a low-cost contender deal immediately after clearing waivers, a massive contrast to the max-contract phase he had just left. |
| August 9, 2021 | 32 | Brooklyn Nets | Re-signed with Brooklyn | 1 year, $2,641,691 | 2021-22 | Minimum contract | After a useful playoff run with the Nets, Griffin stayed in Brooklyn on another short-term veteran deal. |
| October 3, 2022 | 33 | Boston Celtics | Signed with Boston | 1 year, $2,905,851 | 2022-23 | Fully guaranteed minimum deal | Boston added Griffin for frontcourt depth. By this stage of his career, his contracts had become short-term veteran arrangements rather than franchise-centerpiece commitments. |
| April 16, 2024 | 35 | — | Retired from professional basketball | Career earnings finished at $277,038,333 on Spotrac | End of career | Retirement | Griffin closed his NBA career after 14 seasons, ending one of the league’s more unusual contract arcs: top-pick rookie deal, star extension, super-max-level recommitment, sudden trade, buyout, then contender minimums. |
Blake Griffin NBA Cash Earnings by Calendar Year
Because Griffin’s record includes a midseason trade, a trade kicker, a buyout, and split-team years, a calendar-year cash table is the cleanest way to keep the cumulative earnings exact to Spotrac’s total. The figures below follow Spotrac’s cash record. (spotrac.com)
| YEAR | AGE | CASH EARNINGS | CUMULATIVE CAREER EARNINGS | CONTRACT PHASE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 20 | $4,983,430 | $4,983,430 | Rookie contract |
| 2010 | 21 | $5,357,280 | $10,340,710 | Rookie contract |
| 2011 | 22 | $4,612,820 | $14,953,530 | Rookie option / lockout-prorated year |
| 2012 | 23 | $7,226,892 | $22,180,422 | Final rookie-contract year |
| 2013 | 24 | $16,441,500 | $38,621,922 | 2012 designated rookie extension |
| 2014 | 25 | $17,674,613 | $56,296,535 | 2012 designated rookie extension |
| 2015 | 26 | $18,907,725 | $75,204,260 | 2012 designated rookie extension |
| 2016 | 27 | $20,140,838 | $95,345,098 | 2012 designated rookie extension |
| 2017 | 28 | $48,740,553 | $144,085,651 | 2017 max deal / trade year |
| 2018 | 29 | $31,873,932 | $175,959,583 | Pistons max-contract phase |
| 2019 | 30 | $34,234,964 | $210,194,547 | Pistons max-contract phase |
| 2020 | 31 | $31,532,118 | $241,726,665 | Buyout year / Nets rest-of-season deal |
| 2021 | 32 | $32,405,817 | $274,132,482 | Pistons retained money + Nets deal |
| 2022 | 33 | $2,905,851 | $277,038,333 | Celtics contract |
| TOTAL | — | $277,038,333 | $277,038,333 | Full NBA career |
Analysis
Blake Griffin’s contract history reads best in three phases. The first is the Clippers development phase, when Los Angeles used the No. 1 pick on him, kept exercising rookie options, and then signed him to a major designated rookie extension in 2012. That was the period when Griffin went from elite prospect to franchise star and the money rose in a fairly standard superstar progression. (SalarySwish)
The second phase is the most important one for this post from both a basketball and SEO perspective: the 2017 recommitment and the 2018 trade. ESPN reported that Griffin re-signed for five years and $173 million without a no-trade clause, and the Clippers then moved him to Detroit only months later. That gives this page something more than a normal salary timeline, because readers searching Blake Griffin contract history are usually also trying to understand how one of the league’s biggest free-agency commitments unraveled so quickly. (ESPN.com)
The final phase is the unwind. Detroit bought Griffin out in 2021, he gave back $13.3 million as part of the agreement, and then he finished with smaller contender deals in Brooklyn and Boston. That late-career stretch sharply contrasts with the franchise-cornerstone contracts that defined his prime, and it is what gives the post a strong ending: Griffin’s contract record shows not just how stars get paid, but how quickly a max-contract path can change once injuries, team direction, and market value all shift at the same time. (SI)
Sources:
Spotrac contract page, transaction log, earnings table, and career earnings ranking. (spotrac.com)
SalarySwish contract details and transaction history. (SalarySwish)
LA Times / ESPN / Reuters / NBA.com on the 2012 extension, 2017 re-signing, 2018 trade, 2021 buyout and Nets signing, 2022 Celtics deal, and 2024 retirement. (Los Angeles Times)