In somewhat surprising news, center DeAndre Jordan has reportedly agreed to terms on a 4 year $80 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks, turning down a larger offer from his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. Last season, Jordan averaged 11.5 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 71% from the field. He led the NBA in both field goal percentage and rebounds.
Jordan has developed into one of the best centers in the league, and at just 26 years old, he figures to be heading to Dallas as he enters his prime. He is a younger, more dominant, and better version of Tyson Chandler, who recently decided to leave the Mavericks for the Phoenix Suns. Aside from replacing Chandler with Jordan, the Mavs have also signed swingman Wesley Matthews to a four year contract after letting Monta Ellis leave for the Indiana Pacers. It has been a wild start to free agency, and Mark Cuban and the Mavericks have been right in the middle of it, just as they always seem to be.
While Jordan will certainly have a tremendous impact on his new team, it seems as if his decision will have a much larger effect on the Clippers than it will on the Mavs. The Clippers only have their mid-level exception left to offer free agents, and since they’ve already agreed to give $3.4 million of it to veteran forward Paul Pierce, no more than $2 million of it remains. It will be extremely tough for LA to come remotely close to replacing what Jordan brought to their team. To this point in the offseason they have done a fantastic job filling holes on the wing by acquiring Lance Stephenson and Paul Pierce, but they’ve done virtually nothing to prepare for DeAndre Jordan’s departure. In fact, there are currently no centers on their roster. How the Clippers plan on fixing this problem remains to be seen.
The Mavericks have themselves a nice supporting cast built around All-Star Dirk Nowitzki. Their talents all seem to mesh well together, unlike last year’s backcourt duo of Rajon Rondo and Monta Ellis, both of whom needed the ball in their hands to be effective. With Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons, Dirk Nowitzki, and now DeAndre Jordan, the Mavs have the potential to be one of the better teams in the West. Of course, they could use a point guard better than Devin Harris, and the Western Conference remains highly competitive, but this offseason has definitely been kind to the Mavs.
It’s tough for NBA fans to fully wrap their heads around Jordan’s preference for the Mavericks over the Clippers. Aside from the longer contract with more money that LA could have offered, there were many appealing reasons to stay with the Clippers. For starters, Los Angeles is one of the greatest cities to live in, and it has seemed as if Jordan loved embracing the Hollywood spotlight. Also, they have two of the ten best basketball players in the world (Chris Paul and Blake Griffin), who combined with Jordan were just one quarter away from defeating the Houston Rockets and advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
On the other hand, there are many signs that suggest this move might have been inevitable all along. There were reports a few months ago regarding DeAndre Jordan’s strained relationship with All-Star point guard Chris Paul, claiming that the two didn’t necessarily get along or agree all the time. Plus, it’s possible that Jordan wanted to be “the man,” which is something he can very well be in Dallas as the German legend ages.
With Jordan moving from the west coast to the Lone Star State, this offseason has only gotten crazier. Will Chris Paul and Blake Griffin be enough to keep the Clippers near the top of the standings in the West? How much better does Jordan make the Mavs? As exciting as the NBA offseason is, these are questions that can’t be answered in July. Only time will tell how impactful this move is for the Clippers, Mavericks, and of course, DeAndre Jordan.
