Report: Boston Celtics add 6-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin

In the wake of injuries to Robert Williams III and Danilo Gallinari, the Boston Celtics will sign six-time NBA All-Star Blake Griffin to a one-year, $2.7 million veteran minimum contract, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Playing mostly as a small-ball center off the bench, the injury-plagued Griffin averaged 6.4 points (43/26/72 shooting splits), 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 17.1 minutes per game for the Brooklyn Nets last season. The 33-year-old's 56 games in 2021-22 were his most since the 2018-19 campaign, when he enjoyed a bounce-back year for the Detroit Pistons, earning his last All-Star appearance and fifth All-NBA selection.

Griffin has had multiple surgeries on both of his knees, including two on his left knee in 2019 and 2020. The Pistons could not find a suitor willing to assume Griffin's maximum contract at the 2021 trade deadline, so they bought out the $75 million remaining on his deal. He joined a Nets team with championship aspirations on consecutive veteran minimum contracts and started on their 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals run.

Griffin was in and out of the Nets' rotation last season, appearing in just two of their four first-round playoff games against the Boston Celtics. His athleticism had already faded, and the shooting ability he had honed from 2018-21, when he shot 34% on six 3-point attempts per game, failed him as well last season. He was once the NBA's most explosive player, winning the dunk contest in his 2011 Rookie of the Year campaign.

Despite his limitations as he enters a 13th season, Griffin brings a veteran presence to a relatively young team with title aspirations. The Celtics lost the 2022 NBA Finals in six games to the Golden State Warriors.

Boston thought it had secured veteran help off the bench when the team acquired 34-year-old Gallinari in July, but he suffered a torn left ACL during a FIBA World Cup qualifier in August. Gallinari was expected to earn minutes as a small-ball reserve center, and the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Griffin now assumes that role.

The Celtics found themselves even thinner than expected at center last week, when Williams required a second surgery on his left knee. Their starting center cannot resume basketball activities for 8-12 weeks. As the only 7-footer on Boston's roster, Luke Kornet has been playing with the starters during training camp, and veteran Al Horford can slide over from his power forward position to assume some minutes at center.

Griffin's contract is the Celtics' 13th with guaranteed salary. It is unclear if they will fill the 15-man roster. Boston extending training camp invites to Noah Vonleh, Jake Layman, Denzel Valentine, Justin Jackson, Luka Samanic and Brodric Thomas. Mfiondu Kabengele and J.D. Davison are signed to two-way contracts.

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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach