Mavericks' Free Agent Target Analysis: Deandre Jordan
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Now, let’s dig into the fun part of free agency: putting new faces into Mavericks’ jerseys. The first guy I want to talk about is Deandre Jordan. Ever since the Clippers got bounced out of the playoffs, Mavs’ land has been buzzing about Jordan putting on the Dallas jersey. This dude has to be a top 5 big man in the league right now, and he’s only 26 years old. There’s very little to dislike about the Texas native, so should Cuban and the Mavs give him a homecoming?
Career History:
Deandre Jordan, from Houston, Texas, has always been the freak athlete his is now. This pure athleticism got him drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2008 draft with the 35th overall pick. DJ wasn’t expected to start as a rookie but was thrown into the starting five due to an injured Clippers’ frontcourt. Jordan showed some maturity issues as a rookie, but as the season progressed, so did his maturity. Every game DJ played, he would show signs of growth. Jordan had a breakout game against the Los Angeles Lakers in which he scored 23 points, including 10 dunks. Only three players within the past 10 seasons have done this: Shaq, Dwight Howard, and Deandre Jordan. This was just the beginning for Deandre. After Jordan’s rookie contract was up, the Golden State Warriors offered him a 4 year, $43 million dollar contract. DJ signed the offer sheet, but the Clippers were not willing to let him walk so easily; they matched the offer the next day. Each year since, Jordan’s game has improved by leaps and bounds. The only thing that has gotten worse has been his free throw shooting, which I will get into later. Jordan is currently averaging about 12 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game. He leads the league in rebounds per game, field goal percentage, and is fourth in blocks. Lucky for the Mavs, Jordan is going to be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career this summer. (In case you didn't know, an unrestricted free agent has the opportunity to sign anywhere they choose without their former team getting a chance to match the offer.) Deandre Jordan is literally a walking highlight reel when he steps on the court. Time to get into the pros and cons of Mr. Deandre Jordan.
PROS AND CONS OF DJ:
Pros:
• Mutual interest and Texas native. This seems to be a theme with the guys the Mavericks pursue in free agency. Jordan was born in Houston but the Rockets won’t be looking for a new center. DJ has also never expressed any desire to play for the Rockets, but apparently has mentioned playing for the Mavs. According to Tim McMahon, Deandre Jordan “has made it clear through back channels that he will be extremely interested in coming to Dallas.” The Mavericks haven’t made any clear indication as to who they will be pursuing and in what order for this offseason, but many sources believe Deandre is somewhere at the top of the list, as he should be. Another thing that will help the Mavs’ recruiting pitch to Deandre: Jordan is a huge Cowboys fan (just look at his Twitter @deandrejordan6) and Michael Irvin has made it evident that he will be heavily recruiting Jordan to make a permanent move to Dallas this offseason.
• Dan Fegan. Who? Well Dan Fegan is an NBA agent who represents many, many, many, former and current Mavericks, including; JJ Barea, Nick Calathes, Shawn Marion, Dejuan Blair, Shawn William, Drew Gooden, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Chandler Parsons. NBA agents are notorious for attempting to put their players together and get them all to have a close relationship. Parsons and Jordan are often seen laughing together and talking it up before and after games in which they play against each other. It isn’t a huge deal, but it can’t hurt the Mavericks’ chances.
• Freakish athleticism. This is literally the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Deandre Jordan. If the Clippers were playing, you could almost guarantee a Jordan highlight was going to be on the SportsCenter Top 10 the next morning. This athleticism mixed with his (almost) 7-foot stature makes for a scary combination. It’s sort of like Tony Romo and Dez Bryant; just throw the ball up and he’ll go get it. Carlisle loves to run the pick-&-roll and I can only imagine what he could do with Deandre Jordan rolling to the basket.
• Rebounding. Like I mentioned in the Tyson Chandler article (http://t.co/lI0IHmWrjk), the Mavericks were dead last in rebounding this past season. Deandre Jordan was very first for rebounding this past season. See where I’m going with this? Although Tyson is an above average rebounder, Jordan could go down as one of the best rebounders ever. Jordan skies for loose balls and ends up pulling down 15 per game (10 defensive, 5 offensive). Jordan’s career high for rebounds is 27, which, ironically, came against the Mavs this past season. If DJ does sign with the Mavs, he could probably end up averaging even more than 15 per game considering how weak our rebounding is.
• Defense. The Mavs need an elite rim protector and with Deandre, they will get that. Deandre averages a little over 2 blocks per game and has a career high of 9. Jordan is fast enough to keep up with players driving and is long enough to stop anyone from getting close enough to score an easy lay-up. DJ’s defense did not go unnoticed this season as he was elected to be part of the first team all-defense for the first time in his 6-year career.
• Finishing. Deandre led the entire league in field goal percentage at 71% this past season, and basically all of these shots came from around the rim. Jordan’s aggressive game around the rim comes with incredible dunks, alley-oops, and put-back slams. Deandre finished this last season averaging nearly 12 points a game, but he often has offensive outbursts. His career high in points is 26 (incredible for any center, especially a defensive minded one) but he has scored 20+ on many different occasions. If he signs with Dallas, his offensive roll could increase even more.
• Motivated. Jordan made a case to be selected to the All-Star team this past season, but was ultimately left on the outside looking in. Even with a couple injuries to the team, Jordan wasn’t selected as a replacement (Damian Lillard and Dirk Nowitzki were). This gives DJ every to work even harder than he already does. I’m sure Deandre Jordan will be plenty motivated by the chance to win an NBA championship, but being individually motivated by the All-Star game doesn’t hurt either.
Cons:
• Let’s start with the obvious problem: Free throws. This guy’s free throw percentage and form is painful to look at. His release is so awkward and slow that you can just see the shot going off the rim (or missing everything) before it even leaves his hand. Jordan shot 39% from the charity stripe, which led to a lot of intentional fouls. The ever controversial “Hack-a-Jordan” came into play in any kind of close game, leaving Doc Rivers no choice but to pull Deandre out when his team was on offense. Free throws can be fixed, but it takes a lot of shots and a lot of time in the gym. Luckily the Mavs have free throw coach Gary Boren. Boren has led the Mavs to be 75% or above from the free throw line for more than ten seasons. Hopefully he can fix Deandre Jordan’s broken shot.
• Asking price. Deandre Jordan is a max contract player and he knows it. The Los Angeles Clippers can and will offer more money than any team can with a five-year, $108.7 million contract. Dallas can only offer him a four-year, $80.7 million deal. Jordan is a young player who hasn’t been paid all the money he can get yet, so it’s impossible to say if he’s attracted to Dallas enough to give up an extra $28 million.
• Post game. DJ’s offensive game is all above the rim. He gets open enough to throw a lob or lead pass to, or he just jumps over/through his defender to put the ball in the basket. Jordan has absolutely 0 post moves, but he still finds ways to score. Many athletic centers never develop a post game, so DJ will be just fine without it. If he can find a way to be dominant on the block, however, he could be one of the best centers to come through the NBA.
Getting Deandre means losing Tyson (more than likely), but the risk would be well worth the reward. There’s still a strong chance that DJ goes back to lob city, but nothing is for sure. Jordan hasn’t missed a game in 3 seasons, and with Tyson’s injury history, this could be a major upgrade. Along with his durability comes his age. Jordan will only be 27 years old next season, which gives the Mavericks a lot of young talent to build around (Jordan if he signs, Aminu if he re-signs, Parsons, and hopefully a good first round draft pick) The Mavs are notorious for missing out on their main target in free agency, but if Deandre Jordan says he wants to come home then the Mavericks need to pony up the dough and make it happen.
