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Cavs Rumors: Clippers Thought DeAndre Jordan To Cavs NBA Trade Was Close, Per ESPN

By Matt Couden
Published on: 16:08 PST, Feb 9, 2018

The latest Cleveland Cavs rumors suggested by sources to ESPN indicate that DeAndre Jordan was nearly a member of the Cavaliers, or that’s what the Clippers had thought. Los Angeles may have been ready to pull the trigger on a deal with Cleveland this past week. However, the NBA trade deadline has now passed and the All-Star center remains part of the Los Angeles Clippers’ roster.

In a report on Friday via ESPN, it’s noted that sources told Brian Windhorst the Los Angeles Clippers felt they were nearing a trade which would have sent center DeAndre Jordan to Cleveland. However, on Thursday, Cleveland made multiple moves including a blockbuster trade to send a protected first-round pick, Isaiah Thomas, and Channing Frye to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. In addition, Cleveland rebooted their roster further with moves to send Jae Crowder, Derrick Rose, and Dwyane Wade to new teams as well.

The L.A. Clippers had already made headlines in the league when they traded their All-Star forward Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons at the end of January. That brought Tobias Harris and Avery Bradley among other assets to their roster as the Clippers prepared to explore deals within the league for Jordan. Between the Griffin trade with Detroit and their sending Chris Paul to Houston before this season, it appears Los Angeles is fully reconstructing their roster.

Jordan has remained a key member of the Clippers’ roster since his arrival into the NBA. Several years ago, he looked like he might be signing with Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks as a free agent based on a commitment he’d made.

However, the All-Star center changed his mind and re-signed with the Clippers for another four years. Based on that deal he signed he can opt out for this coming summer to enter free agency. That’s a big part of why Los Angeles was looking to make a deal happen this past week.

As far as the Cleveland Cavaliers go, adding DeAndre Jordan may have made a decent impact in their frontcourt but he’s a known liability late in games. Jordan has shot 43.9 percent from the free throw line for his career. To his credit, he’s hitting from the charity stripe at a rate of 58.8 percent in this latest NBA season.

Still, if Cleveland wants to get to the NBA Finals again, Jordan’s inability to consistently hit free throws could put them at a serious disadvantage. That said, he’s second in the league only to Andre Drummond in rebounds per game and second to Houston’s Clint Cappella in the field goal percentage categories.

With free agency on the way, the Clippers could end up losing Jordan with nothing in return now. It won’t be surprising at all to see “DJ” head to a new team after this season, especially with all the rumors and headlines involving his name as well as the fact that he’d probably like to play for an NBA title contender. It would be quite a bit of irony if the Cleveland Cavaliers are somehow able to sign the All-Star center as a free agent in order to further convince LeBron of their commitment to winning.

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Basketball cleveland cavaliers Deandre Jordan NBA Los Angeles Clippers
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