Is Hassell the next Griff?

Running into Adrian Griffin, one of the all-time nice guys, in the hallway of the United Center today got me to thinking. Yes, that can be dangerous. Avery Johnson often brings up finding an “Adrian Griffin with a little more offense” when asked about the off-guard spot.

So I asked Johnson if the addition of Trenton Hassell and Eddie Jones helps end that search.

“This gives us our best chance,” Johnson said. “We even have a better chance than we had last year. Trenton has been awfully good, boy. He does a lot of things that you can’t teach. The instincts and physicality and being in the right place defensively. His post game is a lot better than we thought.”

Hassell could be that guy to start with Devin Harris in the backcourt. In any event, Johnson continued to praise Hassell: “We think he can help us in a lot of areas.”

Getting back to Griffin. He also asked how Gana Diop, his favorite teammate during his last tour through Dallas, was doing. “That’s my boy,” Diop said. “I learned a lot from Griff.”