The Clippers’ re-signing DeAndre Jordan was a big deal

SB Nation

Babe wake up, the Clippers re-signed DeAndre.  It was the summer of 2015. We were young, we were over-heated ( I assume), and for one night, we stopped everything and tuned into twitter as DeAndre Jordan's ...captors?... convinced him to renege on the verbal deal he made with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks. It was a move that shocked, angered, and changed the way NBA free agency would work for the rest of time.  Welcome to "Big Deal." Our new series that takes you, and anyone else in the room while you watch,  inside the most fascinating decisions in sports history.  Please enjoy episode 1.   Written and produced by: Clara Morris Directed and edited by: Charlotte Atkinson

Transcript

00:00What the hell is happening in Houston? Is this even legal?

00:05Like, not just in NBA terms, is this a hostage situation?

00:11Blake Griffin tweeted this image from DeAndre Jordan's house,

00:15presumably as a joke, but a small barricade is still a barricade.

00:19The information's coming in fast and loose and via emoji on the night before free agent signing,

00:25and all we can do is watch, speculate, consider calling the police,

00:30because what if we're all assuming someone else will do it?

00:32Or, if you're Michael Jordan, use the opportunity to throw in an unrelated brag.

00:38This night took over Twitter, threatened to shake up NBA contender status,

00:43and forced the league itself to rewrite the literal rulebook.

00:47The LA Clippers' attempt at an 11th hour free agent coup was a big deal.

00:55Okay, so let me run down what was going on in case this leaves too much open to interpretation.

01:02DeAndre Jordan, free agent, verbally agreed to leave the Clippers and sign with the Mavericks,

01:07which created a problem for the Clippers.

01:10They very much needed DeAndre Jordan on their team.

01:14It's hard for a team to lose their starting center, but it's a bit more detrimental for this team.

01:19Because these Clippers were good, and that was a first for the sad, sad Lakers shadow of a team

01:26named after a type of ship nobody has ever seen or heard of.

01:31These Lob City Clippers were fast, high-flying, fun, and for the first time, title contending.

01:37Okay, yes, they were coming off a season where they blew a 3-1 playoff series in a sort of horrific collapse,

01:44but, I mean, at least they had a 3-1 lead to blow.

01:48It's been worse.

01:49And, yeah, it ended their season, but it didn't shut their title window.

01:54So DeAndre Jordan said, let me get that for you.

01:57There you go, shut nice and tight.

01:59Why don't I lock it for you, too?

02:01Draw the curtains? Board it up?

02:03My point is, there's no championship window without DeAndre Jordan.

02:07Especially when you look at the Clippers' replacement prospects.

02:11But we'll get to that later.

02:12All in good time.

02:14DeAndre Jordan was a huge part of the new, actually good, fun-to-watch,

02:18yes, of course I've heard of a Clipper ship, and I think it's a great team name, Clippers.

02:22Jordan was the two-time reigning NBA rebound leader.

02:26He was coming off his most productive season, and fans loved him.

02:29He had a role to play in the offense and executed it with beauty and grace.

02:34Mesh that with size and power on the other end,

02:37and you've got a guy on his first all-NBA defensive team

02:40who also finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

02:43A lot of people assumed DJ loved his life and wasn't going anywhere in free agency,

02:48including Clippers coach and GM Doc Rivers,

02:51who said just that when asked about Jordan's free agency at the end of the 2015 season.

02:56And thus, the Clippers did little to no wooing of DeAndre Jordan.

03:00How about that?

03:03Did DeAndre really love it in LA?

03:06The offense revolved around stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin,

03:10to the extent that the starting center got, on average, less than one post-up per game.

03:16And sometimes Chris Paul yelled at him on TV.

03:18And wasn't super nice to him off TV.

03:22When the Mavericks of DeAndre's home state came calling with visions of him as the offensive centerpiece,

03:29with teammates who liked him, he was smitten.

03:32Chandler Parsons made himself a fast friend,

03:34and Dirk Nowitzki left vacation to eat dinner with him.

03:38So what if the Mavericks weren't title contenders?

03:41So what if the Mavericks couldn't offer him as much money as the Clippers?

03:44They made him an offer that validated his personal value.

03:48And the Clippers did not.

03:50They could have.

03:51Or they could have at least tried.

03:53But they did not.

03:54So DeAndre verbally committed to Dallas,

03:58and LA's failure to secure Jordan produced a

04:00that's-why-the-Clippers-can't-have-nice-things response from fans and media.

04:06Thus, on the eve of free agency signing period,

04:09the Clippers found themselves faced with a problem.

04:11They dropped from title contenders to the bottom half of the playoff picture,

04:16and they had no one to blame but themselves.

04:18And to solve that problem,

04:21the coach, stars, and owner descended on Jordan's house

04:24to convince him to back out of the Mavs deal.

04:27Was that really the best solution here?

04:31Would you believe me if I said yes?

04:33See, the Clippers were already over the projected salary cap.

04:37That would be fine if they signed DeAndre,

04:39because league rules allow teams to pay their own free agents over the cap,

04:43any amount, even a max salary.

04:45However, to get someone else's free agent,

04:48which they would need as a theoretical Jordan replacement,

04:50the Clips had few payroll options.

04:53It's a little confusing, even for me, a genius.

04:57But basically, the Clippers could offer somebody a minimum salary,

05:00or they could use the mid-level exception

05:02to offer about $5 million that season.

05:06Sounds like a lot of money.

05:07But in NBA terms, it wasn't enough.

05:10Even for the 2015 free agent pool,

05:13which was shallow and tepid.

05:15Who was available?

05:17Let's go to the board!

05:18The Clippers had actually already reached out to Amari Stoudemire,

05:23a power forward who would turn 33 that coming November.

05:27An All-Star four seasons ago,

05:29Stoudemire had been getting progressively worse

05:31and struggled with injuries.

05:33How about Costa Koufis,

05:35a Memphis backup who averaged five rebounds and five points per game,

05:39and who actually had already verbally agreed

05:41to go to the Kings for more money than the Clippers could offer him?

05:45Consider Kevin Serafin.

05:47Substitute on the Washington Wizards,

05:49he was just 25 and not bad in the low post with his jump hook.

05:53But was that a plus on a team that gave their previous center

05:56less than one post up per game?

05:58Defense is not young Kevin's strong suit,

06:00and he too would likely have to take a pay cut to join the Clippers.

06:04Have I mentioned JaVale McGee?

06:06Waived by the 76ers,

06:08he's been limited to 23 games last season,

06:10due to a leg injury that many say has caused him to lose athleticism.

06:14He was described as an interesting project for Doc Rivers.

06:18Could that project be completed in time for this year's playoffs?

06:22No.

06:23Now, the Clippers didn't have to rely on free agency

06:26to fill the DJ-sized hole in their lineup.

06:29They could trade Jamal Crawford, maybe?

06:33Or they could make Blake Griffin play center.

06:36At 6'9", he was now the tallest guy on their roster.

06:39All they'd have to do is revamp their offense

06:42to play small ball at all times.

06:44The Clippers surveyed the board and chose door number seven.

06:48And then they put a small barricade in front of that door

06:50to solve this thing by physically keeping Jordan for themselves.

06:54Because the fact of the matter was,

06:56DJ hadn't signed anything yet.

06:58Yes, on July 4th, 2015,

07:02news broke that Jordan had verbally agreed to sign with the Mavs.

07:06But he couldn't actually sign anything until July 9th.

07:10This weird limbo stretch of time

07:13when players can talk to new teams and agree,

07:15but not sign a contract,

07:17is called the moratorium period.

07:19It exists so that the NBA's math professionals

07:22can audit the year and set the salary cap.

07:24Hard to draw up a contract before the salary cap is set.

07:28So, July 8th,

07:30the night before free agents were allowed to sign contracts,

07:33Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, J.J. Reddick,

07:36Paul Pierce, Doc Rivers,

07:37and owner Steve Ballmer were like,

07:40hey, engaged ain't married.

07:42They went to his house,

07:43didn't include his agent,

07:44and didn't leave until DeAndre signed with them.

07:48Which he did just after midnight on July 9th.

07:51It was unprecedented.

07:53It broke several unwritten rules,

07:55mainly agents should be around for contract stuff,

07:58verbal agreements are agreements,

08:00and homes are for invited guests.

08:03Though later it was revealed to be less of a hostage situation

08:06and more friendly and calm,

08:08it was still an unheard of move,

08:10and from Dallas' point of view,

08:11still pretty fucked up.

08:13But you know the same.

08:15No fucked up stuff, no reward.

08:17The Clippers had eliminated their problem.

08:21Mission accomplished.

08:23Doc Rivers was regarded as the hero who saved the Clippers.

08:26They were reinstated as a threat to the defending champion Warriors.

08:30Sure, there was some blowback for their

08:33snaking of a player from another team.

08:37And D.J. himself,

08:38well, he went from being the prized big fish of free agency

08:42to a spineless sea slug,

08:45the most despised of all sea creatures.

08:47His apology to Maverick fans was not accepted.

08:52His character was called into question,

08:54which is what happens when you go back on your words so very publicly.

08:58But suddenly, his talent was up for debate, too.

09:02Maybe he flip-flopped because he knew he wasn't up to the task

09:05of being an offensive centerpiece.

09:07Maybe he was scared to try.

09:08A scorned Chandler Parsons suggested this theory,

09:12as did the trainer who'd worked with DeAndre his whole career.

09:17Kind of a damning source.

09:19But who cares about all that

09:20when you're about to challenge the Warriors for a title?

09:24About that.

09:26The Clippers were eliminated in the first round of the 2016 playoffs.

09:30Same with the 2017 playoffs.

09:33A lot of that was due to injury troubles,

09:35but that was still the end result.

09:38By the middle of 2018,

09:40Jordan was the only one of the big three left

09:42and the butt of the joke the Clippers had become.

09:46Even though he individually did pretty well.

09:50So, in the end,

09:52all this didn't matter?

09:55Like, sure, the Clippers would have probably been worse

09:57if they'd taken Kevin Serafin or had Blake Griffin at center,

10:01but the overall result would have been the same.

10:04I grew up in D.C. and in glorious 2005,

10:14the Wizards really did get celebratory second round of the playoffs T-shirts.

10:18My point is, the Clippers went nowhere despite their, for lack of a better term,

10:24off-season kidnapping spree.

10:27And the saga sort of got lost in the larger reputation of the Lob City Clippers.

10:31They never lived up to their potential.

10:33They blew a 3-1 lead.

10:34Yeah, they got a little weird and selfish and free agency,

10:38but what else were they supposed to do?

10:40You saw their options.

10:41Even DJ's reputation got repaired a bit.

10:44The Mavericks forgave him to an extent when he actually signed with them in 2018.

10:48So, was the DJ coup really a big deal?

10:54Yup, said the horribly embarrassed NBA.

10:57The league did not want to ever again look like a circus

11:00that allowed hostage-taking, agent barricading,

11:04and teams getting totally screwed over.

11:07But what could they do?

11:09Enact the DeAndre Jordan rule,

11:12shortening the moratorium period to four days

11:14and hoping that would be too little time for a circus to perform.

11:18The 11th-hour scramble changed professional basketball forever.

11:23Just not in the way the Clippers had imagined.

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