DeAndre Jordan Leaves Clippers for Mavericks
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Free agent Center DeAndre Jordan will be leaving the Los Angeles Clippers, after electing to sign a four-year, $80+ million max deal on Friday.
Jordan was drafted by the Clippers in the 2nd round of the 2008 NBA Draft, after he played just one season at Texas A&M. Jordan took a couple years to develop, but had flourished into one of the top centers in the entire league by the end of last year.
Free agent center DeAndre Jordan has informed Mavs owner Mark Cuban & coach Rick Carlisle he is coming to Dallas, sources told Yahoo Sports.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 3, 2015
Jordan is coming off a career best season in which he averaged career highs in both points (11.5) and rebounds (15.0) per game. He also averaged 2.2 blocks per game, and led the entire NBA in field goal percentage by shooting 71% from the field. Jonas Valanciunas was 2nd in the league at 57% from the field. Jordan shot a mere six shots outside of the paint all of the 2014-2015 season, and did mostly all of his damage in the post and inside the paint.
Jordan's departure comes at a time when possible replacements for him, such as Tyson Chandler (PHX) and Robin Lopez (NY) , had already inked deals with other teams, leaving the Clippers with very few options.
Jordan took the four-year deal with the Mavericks instead of a bigger, five-year deal with the Clippers, with aspirations of being more than just Blake Griffin and Chris Paul's sidekick. The Clippers could offer him more years and more money than any other team, but Jordan decided to return to his home state of Texas and join outspoken owner Mark Cuban in his quest for another championship.
This is not the first splash the Mavericks have made this summer in free agency, as they signed guard Wes Matthews to a four-year, $57 million deal on Thursday.
The Clippers hoped to sway Jordan into returning by adding veteran Paul Pierce, but Jordan elected to go elsewhere, leaving the Clippers with a huge hole at the center position.
Jordan was a stalwart for the Clippers the past three seasons, starting in every game in each of the last three years. His defensive presence, athletic ability, and powerful dunks will be greatly missed by the Clippers, and unfortunately for fans, his departure could mean the end of "Lob City",