The Los Angeles Clippers are lobbying big man DeAndre Jordan to back out of his decision to sign with the Dallas Mavericks in favor of taking their offer, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
The Clippers are begging DeAndre Jordan to back out on his agreement with the Mavericks
Jordan has already agreed to terms on a four-year deal with Dallas.
The Clippers have reportedly bypassed Jordan's agents at Relativity Sports in an effort to personally convince the big man to re-sign in L.A. A contingent led by Doc Rivers and several players will meet with Jordan in Houston on Wednesday, followed by one last meeting with Dallas owner Mark Cuban and possibly Chandler Parsons. Those players announced their presence with a series of emoji tweets on Wednesday. Yup: emoji tweets.
Jordan, an unrestricted free agent, agreed to a four-year, $80 million deal with Dallas last week but can’t officially sign a contract until the league’s moratorium passes July 9. Now he’s having second thoughts about the move, and since agreeing to sign with the Mavs, he’s been “torn” and “unsure” about his choice. He reportedly initiated contact with Rivers on Monday, setting up this wild sequence of events.
Jordan hit the open market this summer after six years in Los Angeles. The 26-year-old emerged as one of the league’s best centers during that time, peaking in 2014-15 as he earned All-NBA Third-Team and All-Defensive First-Team honors. The Clippers were expected to re-sign him to a five-year maximum contract this summer, but he surprised the league by agreeing to terms with Dallas early in free agency.
Now Los Angeles is pulling out all the stops to convince Jordan to go back on that decision, including bypassing his representatives in order to schedule this face-to-face meeting in Houston that includes team president Doc Rivers and owner Steve Ballmer. The moves have made some executives in Dallas "very concerned," according to USA Today's Sam Amick. The threat of Jordan backing out to return to L.A. is "real."
Blake Griffin, J.J. Redick, Paul Pierce and Chris Paul are expected to be at the meeting as well, reports Dan Woike of the OC Register. Redick confirmed his presence with this emoji.
— JJ Redick (@JJRedick) July 8, 2015 Cuban is also traveling to Dallas to stop the Clippers’ pursuit, according to Stein. Chandler Parsons, who played a major role recruiting Jordan earlier in the process, presumably will be there too.
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— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) July 8, 2015 It was previously reported that Paul's personality had been part of why Jordan decided to leave Los Angeles, so his inclusion is significant. Griffin has already "huddled" with Jordan to discuss the situation, too, so he's clearly getting into the recruiting at this point. The meeting will also give the Clippers a chance to convince him on his place with the franchise as they apparently didn't realize he wanted a bigger role.
Griffin, for what it’s worth, posted a photo from his vacation in Hawaii just minutes after the reports started to emerge.
But Griffin will cut his trip short in order to fly to Houston to help pitch Jordan.
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— Blake Griffin (@blakegriffin32) July 8, 2015 The Clippers are unhappy with the way Jordan was recruited by the Mavericks, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Brad Turner, which is part of why they’ve pushed so hard to talk with him again. Dallas had both a meeting and dinner with the free agent, while L.A. got only one meeting before he chose the Mavericks. Now the Clips appear to be getting that second meeting in order to further pitch their case.
If Jordan does walk away from his deal with Dallas, it wouldn't be the first time that an NBA player has done so during the league's free agency moratorium. In 2009, Hedo Turkoglu agreed to terms with the Portland Trail Blazers before backing out to sign with the Toronto Raptors. It also brings back memories of Dwight Howard exercising his option with Orlando in 2012 only to push for a trade, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks pointed out.
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