The emergence of Blake Griffin as one of the NBA's best young players during the 10-11 season and the December 2011 trade for Chris Paul has completely changed the dynamic for the Clippers.

The Clippers have now become a "free-agent destination," Griffin said in an interview on Friday.

"Of course, to be honest, everybody knows the state that the Clippers were in, or have been in, for the last however many years," Griffin said. "I think that shows a lot about where we're at and where we're going, that guys want to play here and that guys want to buy in. You've got a guy like Grant Hill who is at the end of his career and he chose us.

"So, I think we can be very good. I think we can contend in the West and for a championship."

Griffin committed to the Clippers long-term, signing a five-year extension in July.

"With the moves that the front office made — and now with Gary Sacks, who hopefully steps into that GM role — that made it easy for me and I think this is the place where everybody wants to come," Griffin said.

Griffin spoke highly of Gary Sacks who is the leading candidate to replace Neil Olshey.

"I think Gary has a great relationship with all the players and the players like him," Griffin said. "If he is finally named GM, I think that's just the icing on the cake of having a franchise that is complete."

Blake Griffin missed the Olympics due to knee surgery, but he has healed and is excited for the coming season.

"I came back after surgery and started rehabbing and getting back into it. I've been shooting and lifting [weights] and all that for a while now," Griffin told The Times in telephone interview Friday. "So, I'm pretty much back at 100%, been back at 100% for a little bit. So I'm good."

Griffin's latest knee injury had nothing to do with the stress fracture of his left patella, and the subsequent surgery that forced him to miss the 09-10 season.

"In talking to my doctor, he told me if this was the season and the playoffs were coming up, I would have been out two or three weeks," Griffin said. "We're kind of taking our time with it and really making sure we meet every single area and making sure that my strength is 100% back to where it needs to be.

"But it's been there for two or three weeks now. So, really, I'm just kind of working myself into condition and still getting my basketball work in and getting my lifts in."

Paul Lukas of Uni Watch ranks the uniforms of all 30 NBA teams, with the Celtics coming in first.

"The Rolling Stones, "Goodfellas," a Hershey's with almonds -- the classics are classic for a reason," writes Lukas about the Celtics. "That definitely applies to the Celtics' set. No goofy side panels, no extraneous bells or whistles -- just a perfect, vertically arched wordmark and a simple green-and-white color scheme. They rank atop this list despite sometimes wearing that black-trimmed alternate."

The Spurs, Lakers, Warriors and Jazz comprise the remainder of the top-five.

"The Raiders aren't the only team that knows how to wear silver and black," writes Lukas in regards to the Spurs. "In addition to the killer colors, the Spurs are also among the few NBA teams that have successfully incorporated a graphic image into their chest typography -- a small element that goes a long way."

6. Wizards
7. Thunder
8. Heat
9. Knicks
10. Blazers
11. Pistons
12. Pacers
13. Bulls
14. 76ers
15. Hornets
16. Suns
17. Grizzlies
18. Nuggets
19. Rockets
20. Hawks
21. Raptors
22. Bucks
23. Cavaliers
24. Mavericks
25. Clippers
26. Bobcats
27. Magic 
28. Wolves
29. Nets (based on last year's set)
30. Kings 

Chris Paul has undergone successful surgery on his right thumb.

Paul sustainted a torn ligament during a United States' training camp practice in July.

Paul is expected to miss eight weeks.

Gary Sacks is the frontrunner to become the next general manager of the Clippers.

Sacks is a longtime scout with the organization and has been one of the leaders of the front office since the depature of Neil Olshey to the Blazers.

Sacks and Vinny Del Negro have been working in conjunction on personnel moves.