Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick will all be free agents this offseason and part of the Los Angeles Clippers' early success has been not taking what they have now for granted.

“Yeah, that (free agency reality is) all obviously there,” Griffin said. “And even on top of that, year after year, after experiencing (playoff disappointments), after feeling like we were close, and going back to when we first came together. I think I was 22 (years old), I'd just turned 22 (when Paul first started playing for the Clippers). DJ (Clippers center DeAndre Jordan) was about the same age. It was my second year in the league, lockout year, and like we have grown a lot over the course of the last five years.

“It's kind of amazing to think back to that time, but year to year you go through those ups and downs. A lot of heartbreak in the playoffs, obviously, well documented, well talked-about everything that we've gone through. And some of it has been, for lack of a better word, back luck. Injuries here or there. Some of it has been our own fault, but I think you go through a year like last year, where CP and I both get hurt, and you're not even really 100 percent to start with, and you cherish these moments, you cherish being a good team. Whether people want to admit it or not, we're a solid team.”