Blake Griffin has reached a contract buyout with the Detroit Pistons, the team announced on Friday. The six-time NBA All-Star forward will soon become an unrestricted free agent and multiple teams are reportedly interested in landing him.

Since the 31-year-old was traded to the Pistons in January 2018, Griffin has averaged 20.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He led the team to enter the playoffs in 2019 and played two games carrying a knee injury before they were knocked out by the Milwaukee Bucks.

"Blake has been a great representative for our franchise and for the city of Detroit. His work ethic and his approach to the game contributed a lot to our culture. He has been a consummate pro and we wish him continued success. I'm grateful for everything he did for our team and for our community," said the Pistons owner Tom Gores in a statement.

Griffin gave up about $13.3 million from his $75.6-million salary of the last two years of his contract. The team will pay him all the money in this and next season instead of stretching it over a multiple-season payroll. It's a wise decision in the long term but the Pistons must bear the pain of having around $30 million missing from their salary cap for two years.

"I thank the Pistons organization for working together on an outcome that benefits all involved and I wish the franchise success in the future," said Griffin in a statement.

The Pistons have tried to trade Griffin but considering his age, salary, health and performance in the past two years, the price for a team to swallow Griffin's deal may be even more painful than a buyout like this for the Pistons.

However, it will be a different story if Griffin can join a team as a free agent and that's why champion candidates like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets have both been linked to him.

Before exploring where Griffin's destination may be, let's first take a look at what he can do at the moment.

Having been selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft in 2009, Griffin spent his first season recovering from a stress fracture in his left knee. Then in his debut season of 2010-11, Griffin dropped 22.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game. A total of 98 percent of his shootings happened within the 3-point line and 40 percent were from within one meter of the rim. He only took 24 attempts from downtown in all 82 games and made seven of them.

By contrast, in the last relatively-complete season he played (2018-19), Griffin shot 522 triples in 75 games, almost seven per game and his 3-point rate was 36.2 percent.

As a guy who finished 784 dunks in his first four seasons (over 2.5 per game) and turned a bunch of defenders into poster backgrounds, Griffin did not dunk even once in any of the 20 games he played this season.

Injuries are not the only reason behind the transformation of Griffin's game. He refined his dribbling and passing, which enabled him to deliver more than five assists for multiple seasons. Griffin also kept extending his shooting range until he was able to pose enough threat from the arc.

However, while he was trying to do the right thing, Griffin's career seemed to be going in an awkward direction. He learnt to orchestrate and post when the Clippers and Chris Paul needed him to score; Griffin became a qualified shooter when the Pistons needed him to charge the rim.

Back to the question – where will Griffin go? He was never an elite defender, not to mention he's now lost most of his speed and athleticism. Yet, he still has good enough size and power to tussle with most big men in the paint.

Offensively, Griffin can stretch the floor, set screen and finish some truly smart hand-to-hand plays around the free throw line. He can still deliver 4.4 assists per 36 minutes but he should not be relied on as a major scorer anymore.

If he joins the Nets, Griffin does not need to contribute too many points. The team has averaged a league-leading 121.1 points this season when Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving only played some 10 games together. Griffin can offer them muscle under the rim and enrich their offensive options

If he joins the Lakers, the purple and gold may use Griffin in the way they have been using Marc Gasol. Griffin will work more around the free throw line to post and share part of the offense launching burden of LeBron James. Nonetheless, considering his current situation, there won't be much he can do either in the purple and gold.

"Blake's NBA resume speaks for itself. He's a player I've respected for many years from afar and it was great to have the opportunity to coach him here in Detroit. Contending teams will love to have a guy like him in their program, which is an opportunity he deserves at this point of his career, and we wish him the best," said the Pistons head coach Dwane Casey.

Hopefully Griffin can add "Conference Finals" to his resume before he retires.