The Los Angeles Clippers are again going home before the conference finals, which means it's time to start looking at their offseason options. By now, you know the situation. The Clippers are talented, but clearly flawed. They have two of the league's top 10 players (Chris Paul and Blake Griffin) and an All-Star center (DeAndre Jordan). They have one of the league's top bench scorers (Jamal Crawford) and one of its best shooters (J.J. Redick). They have a championship coach (Doc Rivers).
DeAndre Jordan will have plenty of suitors this summer
The Clippers’ big man is an unrestricted free agent and is in line for a big payday. Will it be with the Clippers?
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
And yet, something is off. Paul, Griffin and Jordan have now been playing together for four seasons and have never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. Is that core a flawed one incapable of making a deep run, or is there something else holding the Clippers back? Either way, it’s clear that Rivers is going to have to do something to the roster. How he goes about doing so is the question.
Jordan is the player who will determine Rivers’ course. DeAndre will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and letting him go represents the only major move the Clippers could make. Paul and Griffin are both signed for multiple seasons and L.A. is not going to trade either of them. The Clippers will have limited cap flexibility, preventing them from making a major free-agent splash. Letting Jordan walk or sending him away in a sign-and-trade could be Rivers’ only avenue towards a major roster shakeup.
Rivers, however, shot down that possibility Sunday night following his Clippers' season-ending Game 7 loss to the Rockets.
“Oh yeah,” he said when asked if re-signing Jordan was his top offseason priority, per the Orange County Register. “That’s obvious.” Rivers added: “Can you tamper with your own guy? If that’s true, I want to go tamper right now.”
The Clippers, according to Arash Markazi of ESPN, plan on offering Jordan a five-year, $108.7 million contract over the summer. It’s a deal that Rivers clearly expects Jordan to accept.
“You can’t take anything for granted, but D.J. loves being a Clipper,” Rivers told Yahoo Sports. “D.J. loves being here. We have an amazing relationship.”
Jordan, for the most part, declined to go into detail about his free agency plans on Sunday -- “I’m not a free agent until July,” he said -- but he did indicate that he would like to remain in Los Angeles.
“I’ve been here for seven years, so this is what I’m used to,” he said. “But I’m not thinking about that, man. It’s still so fresh tonight. It’s tough.”
Jordan averaged nearly 12 points and a league-high 15 rebounds per game while anchoring the Clippers’ defense. He’s a clear max-player who can anchor a defense and doesn’t mind a limited role on the other end of the floor. His free-throw shooting is poor, but otherwise, he’s as good a center as there’ll be outside of Marc Gasol on the market.
So, where does he end up? Two teams are the obvious favorites.
The Clippers
It just doesn’t make sense for the Clippers to let him walk. L.A. is a better team with Jordan on the floor. It’s simple.
There’s also the salary math. Right now the Clippers have around $66 million committed to players for the 2016-17 season, not including Jordan. The cap for next season is expected to be around $67 million. Thus, letting Jordan go wouldn’t open up much cap room. As a non-luxury tax team, the Clippers would be allowed to use the full mid-level exception (about $5.4 million) as opposed to the mini one (worth around $3.37 million). Otherwise, there are no benefits to being around the cap level, but under the tax.
Are there going to be any players available this offseason who are both better than Jordan and willing to take the mid-level exception? It’s highly unlikely.
The one wild card is whether Jordan, 26, decides to sign a two-year deal with a player option after one season, which would allow him to take advantage of the 2016 influx of TV money. For example, if he were to be a free agent in 2016, he could likely sign a five-year, $143.7 million deal.
But even so, the Clippers can still offer Jordan more money than anyone else and the opportunity to play in Los Angeles with Paul and Griffin. And, again, they don’t have many other options. If Rivers is smart, he’ll avoid the major roster blowup and instead make his upgrades on the margins.
A betting man would say Jordan ends up staying in L.A.
The Mavericks
The Mavericks are the one team with a shot at prying Jordan away from L.A. Jordan is from Texas, so Dallas would be much closer to home. The Mavericks will also have a ton of cap space this offseason (Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler and Rajon Rondo are free agents) and you have to assume that one of these days, Mark Cuban will land his free-agent target.
Dallas can only give Jordan a four-year $80.7 million deal, but it can sell him on a first-class organization, an increased role, the ability to play with Dirk Nowitzki and the opportunity to play for Rick Carlisle.
Why any of that would be more appealing to Jordan that returning to L.A. is unclear. But perhaps returning to Texas is something that appeals to him.
Mystery Team
It's going to be a funky offseason, with players, agents and teams all trying to figure out how navigate their way around the new TV deal and possible 2017 work stoppage. Because of this, it's impossible to predict which other teams emerge as major players. Maybe the Knicks become intriguing once again. Maybe the Lakers start getting their act together. Maybe the Spurs find themselves with a depleted roster and tons of cap space. Maybe Jordan would prefer to go East.
Chances are that Jordan returns to L.A., but it would be foolish to call it a done deal. We’ve certainly seen stranger things happen during recent NBA offseason. Jordan, for what it’s worth, will not be a man lacking suitors.
SB Nation presents: The keys to the conference finals
See More:
