Rivers envisions Griffin as a devastating face-up player offensively and a potentially elite defender. That message was made clear from the onset. "I sat in his office and we talked about how he thought I could be much, much better defensively, especially defensively in transition," Griffin said. "And I completely agree. That’s going to be kind of a focus for me, putting in that time and that effort to relearning our defensive schemes, language, and really putting in the effort every day, every single day at practice where in games it carries over."