DeAndre Jordan has agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks, so why are we still talking about the possibility of him returning to the Los Angeles Clippers?
Jordan has not yet signed on the dotted line, and Marc Stein of ESPN reports that the Clippers are trying to convince the free agent center to reconsider his decision. The Clippers have reportedly pushed to secure one last meeting to have Jordan sit down with Doc Rivers and team owner Steve Ballmer in Dallas on Wednesday.
Stein adds that Clippers players have also been in contact with Jordan in recent days, and sources told ESPN’s Chris Broussard that Jordan is feeling “torn” and “unsure” about his verbal agreement with the Mavericks.
Free agents can formally sign contracts on Thursday, though the NBA’s moratorium period in July allows teams to negotiate with players and start hammering out deals. It is basically an unwritten rule across the league that once a player has committed to sign with a team, other teams should move on.
To make matters more interesting, Stein reports that Jordan has already spoken with Blake Griffin and could speak with Chris Paul. In fact, Paul has been “pushing hard” to change Jordan’s mind. Rumors have indicated that Jordan’s poor relationship with Paul is one of the reasons he wants to leave LA.
It makes sense that the Clippers would want to keep Jordan. J.J. Redick has already ripped his own team for not finding a way to re-sign the big man, and he’s not the only one who feels that way.
If Jordan doesn’t honor his word with the Mavs, there is going to be more than a little bad blood between the two sides.
