There was a stretch in March when he put up a couple of 20/20 games, and 5 games where he scored 20+ points. http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3442/deandre-jordan It's worth examining how that happened though: 2 Games against the Rockets where he scored 24 with 20 boards, and 22 with 19 boards. Our starting center was Joey Dorsey at the time. 1 game against the Mavs where he scored 22 points with 27 rebounds. Tyson Chandler sprained his ankle in the first minute of that game and didn't return. 1 game against the Spurs where he scored 26 points and had 18 rebounds. Hack-a-Jordan sent him to the free throw line 28 times that game. CP3 had 22 and 16 assists, Jamal Crawford had 26 points. Jordan's +/- for the game was -2. He had 22 points and 20 rebounds vs the Nets earlier that month with Griffin playing. They lost, Brook Lopez scored 24 on him, and he his +/- was -11. I expect Jordan to continue to be a monster rebounding the ball, and in circumstances like the ones above he will have occasional 20+ point games. Averaging 14-16 points next season is fairly realistic. If he becomes one of the main focuses of the Mavs offense though he will start to see defenses actually focusing on him rather than him being the option they give up because they are focused on stopping Griffin and CP3. He should be able to score in the same ways Tyson Chandler did for the Mavs on pick and rolls and be a great pick up for them who is worth the money considering their options and the lack of great centers out there. I just don't see the Mavs with Jordan being better than the Clippers with Jordan unless they add a MVP candidate star to that roster.
Cuban selling DJ some "Shaq and Kobe 2.0" with him and Parsons. DJ went from an 8/8 player to a 12/15 guy because of Doc and CP3 forcing him to play to his strengths but I guess he thinks they were holding him back from being a 20/10 guy. I can't wait to see DJ demanding the ball in the post next season.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mavs owner Mark Cuban says DeAndre Jordan is 'Shaq-like' <a href="http://t.co/qsszQceKWf">http://t.co/qsszQceKWf</a> <a href="http://t.co/JqQUEqszmI">pic.twitter.com/JqQUEqszmI</a></p>— CBS Sports NBA (@CBSSportsNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSSportsNBA/status/617337688115552256">July 4, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DeAndre Jordan is Tyson Chandler ... only a little bit better. We look at the Mavericks newest choice at center <a href="http://t.co/xVHRqVKMLY">http://t.co/xVHRqVKMLY</a></p>— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/617339640266096640">July 4, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
DeAndre Jordan drank the Kool-Aid By Steve Perrin on Jul 3, 2015 Mark Cuban says that DeAndre Jordan can average 20-20. He's wrong of course, but the sales pitch worked. Here's what I know: apparently nothing. One thing I certainly do not know is why DeAndre Jordan thought it was a good decision to leave the Los Angeles Clippers, the only NBA team he's ever known and a team where he has thrived to the point of being third team All-NBA this season, for the Dallas Mavericks. But here are a few things I believe: If DeAndre Jordan thinks he is going to be a bigger star in Dallas than he was in Los Angeles, he is wrong. Write it down now and come back and check it four years from now, but my prediction (and it's not overly bold) is that 2015 will go down as the high water mark of Jordan's career. Third team All-NBA, first team All-NBA Defense, third in Defensive Player of the Year voting -- he won't reach those levels in Dallas. Nor will he win more games in Dallas than he did in Los Angeles. The Clippers have won 56 or 57 games each of the last three seasons. I do not expect the Mavs to win that many games in any of the four seasons of the contract that Jordan just signed. Again, check back in 2019 to see if I'm correct. Somehow the Mavericks convinced DeAndre that he is a player he is not. Or maybe he is -- but as it happens, they don't have much grasp on reality in Dallas, at least based on what Mark Cuban says. We showed him [Jordan] with our current cast he can average 20-20 a game, and he did - when Blake [Griffin] was out, he averaged 24 points, 20 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, it was ridiculous. So, first of all, DeAndre Jordan can't average 20-20. Put another way, NO ONE -- not Shaquille O'Neal, not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, not Hakeem Olajuwon, not the blue alien in Space Jam -- has averaged 20-20 in 45 years, since Wilt Chamberlain in 1969. It's a laugh line. It's akin to Cuban telling DeAndre "Come to Dallas, because in our system you can be the next president of the United States." Second of all, Jordan did not average 24 points and 20 rebounds while Griffin was out of the lineup -- he averaged 14.9 points and 18.5 rebounds, which is really, really good, but NOT 24 and 20. So when Cuban says that something is ridiculous, he's right -- his tendency toward hyperbole is indeed ridiculous. Did Jordan hate Chris Paul? Maybe. But most of all, Jordan drank some Kool-Aid down in Dallas and no one in his camp had the common sense to call bull**** on the hard sell. It's difficult to put a positive spin on this situation for the Clippers or for Clippers fans. As I've said all along, there really is no Plan B. Do you want to take a flyer on rehabbing the career of JaVale McGee or Andrew Bynum? Sign and trades and trade exceptions and the rest of the Mid Level Exception and trades -- none of that is going to fetch much; not in this market. From a fan's perspective, I will say this: the Clippers will obviously enter the season with much lower expectations, and that could be fun. At least it's what we're accustomed to. A small ball lineup with Griffin at center, a lot of threes, a fast pace -- they'll win a lot of games, they'll make the playoffs. When the trade deadline rolls around and veteran bigs hit the buy out market, they're going to line up to play for the Clippers, a team without a single true center on the roster as of this moment. That's really your plan B right there -- keep your options open and see what shakes out in February. And having those options open? It also means having cap space next summer. Recovering from this situation is certainly not inconceivable. It's a long shot, but Los Angeles is still a great market and Griffin and Paul are still great players in their prime, so luring a major free agent to play for the Clippers in 2016 is not out of the realm of possibility. Kevin Durant in a Clippers uniform? It's certainly not as ridiculous as DeAndre Jordan averaging 20 and 20, http://www.clipsnation.com/2015/7/3/8892307/deandre-jordan-drank-the-kool-aid
Doc River's son on Deandre: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If true I don't see why someone signs with a team that might not make playoffs and have 0% chance of winning a championship...</p>— Spencer Rivers (@Srivers25) <a href="https://twitter.com/Srivers25/status/617062185357996032">July 3, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Report: DeAndre Jordan was tired of Chris Paul not giving him high-fives <a href="http://t.co/bHjcVgsofs">http://t.co/bHjcVgsofs</a></p>— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketballtalk/status/618101132670337024">July 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
@Pflanns - Here's a lukewarm take on the Mavericks big moves http://www.sbnation.com/2015/7/6/8900581/dallas-mavericks-deandre-jordan-signing-analysis
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Report: DeAndre Jordan Was 'Tired' of Chris Paul's 'Petty Gestures' <a href="http://t.co/5Le3E3Hweb">http://t.co/5Le3E3Hweb</a> <a href="http://t.co/orSYyjDTIc">pic.twitter.com/orSYyjDTIc</a></p>— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) <a href="https://twitter.com/SLAMonline/status/618108367547056128">July 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/13207991/deandre-jordan-dallas-mavericks-wants-nba-next-great-center-according-chandler-parsons Regarding Wes Matthews and DeAndre Jordan.... Harden & Howard say HI!
Dallas has the feel of a team that will either struggle to get to 45 wins or where everything clicks and they rattle off 58 wins. Not sure I see a lot of in between.
With Dallas, everything will ride on Matthews & Parsons' health. Parsons had microfracture and Matthews is coming off achilles. Those are not easy to overcome. And even when they are 100% healthy, it can be argued that they will have lost some of their quickness and that will reduce their effectiveness.
Bit off-topic (kinda), but did Parsons have microfracture or not? Edit: Deuce/anybody, do you/y'all have a source? I couldn't find one...
That's a reasonable and sane writeup. Some people are going overboard with these signings. If you think about it, the Mavs basically swapped Chandler/Ellis/Aminu for Jordan/Matthews/Evans. Unless Matthews recovers fully from that Achilles injury, you could make a strong case the Mavs got marginally worse compared to last year. Also, let's not forget Dirk just turned 37. Parsons is coming off a knee injury that may or may not have required microfracture depending on who you ask. Rondo is gone. Amar'e may be gone. Barea or Lin will likely be their starter at PG. And the rest of their bench is thin to say the least.
