ESPN sources say Clippers lobbying DeAndre Jordan to reverse his decision to join Dallas

That's dumb. If players can sabotage teams intentionally the system needs to change immediately. Right now that scenario is possible.

 

Teams will have to learn to just hold off on deals until the moratorium is over. Just line things up and then execute when contracts can be signed.

Funny that the moratorium only exists because some teams were recruiting and negotiating with free agents before it was allowed. And some still are.

 

Either Jordan will be seen as an outlier, or things will change for the worse next year, with a lot more mind games going on.

If I'm a GM, and the old code is broken, then I tell some guy we're going to sign him while then secretly going around and meeting with other, more desirable free agents. Then I try to sign my favorite when the moratorium ends.

Would be terrible for both sides but kind of thrilling for the twitterverse and fans.

 

Was all good just a week ago. This moved affected the rockets.

 

Deandre was lucky he changed his mind when he did. The Clippers have totally re-loaded and are back in the arms race with the Warriors, Cavs, and Spurs this offseason. I mean, on paper, this roster is completely unbelievable:

PG - CP3, Austin Rivers
SG - JJ Redick, Lance Stephenson, Jamal Crawford
SF - Paul Pierce, Wes Johnson, Branden Dawson (summer league standout)
PF - Blake Griffin, Josh Smith, probably Big Baby
C - Deandre, Cole Aldrich

The starting lineup last year had the best offensive efficiency in the league and they pretty much just replaced Matt Barnes with Paul Pierce in that lineup. Most teams would switch their worst defender on Barnes or just flat out double off of him, but there's no way you can do that now and just leave Paul Pierce wide open. So either you have to put your worst defender on JJ Redick and have them chase him around screens all game or you have to play the Clippers straight up. Additionally, teams would also employ a strategy to put their best wing defender on CP3. If they do this, then Pierce or Stephenson is going to post up the small guard that they switch onto him.

On top of that, the second unit with Lance Stephenson, Wes Johnson, and Josh Smith will no longer be the defensive liability that the Clippers had last year. At the very least, they will be able to defend well enough to give the starters enough rest to close out the game.

Barring injury or some crazy meltdown between the two new crazy people on the team (Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith), the Clippers are freaking loaded on paper right now. Deandre can stop whining about touches when he gets some jewelry for his fingers.

 

So this came back to hurt us. No way Smoove leaves if Deandre went through on his commitment.

 

Interesting to see what the Clippers do with Jamal Crawford contract.

 

The funny thing is that the Clippers were looking to trade Jamal to fill their backup big needs. But with J-Smoove signing for vet minimum, there's really no need to trade Jamal unless he requests it. I think they will just keep him until the trade deadline after the all star break to see if they can get the missing piece for an expiring contract. Crawford also serves as insurance incase there's a need for offense off the bench.

 

Actually, I think the original plan was for J-Smoove to come to the Clippers after Deandre left as a sort of answer to the small ball they were planning to play. This would have given him tons of minutes and a real reason to sign for vet minimum. It is a bit surprising that he is willing to take a minimum deal (granted covered by the Pistons for the rest) to just serve as Blake Griffin's 10-15 minute rest break back-fill. I'm sure Doc came back to him and told him they still intend on playing small ball in spurts and he would be a part of that. Or maybe he saw that the Western Conference was an arms race between the Warriors and the Spurs and joining the Clippers at least puts him in the game for a title next season.

 

Say what you want about Barnes but the guy was durable, right? Not sure about what happens if Pierce goes down (again).

 

again? his recent history of past seasons is pretty healthy and really nothing to indicate otherwise

 

Y'all hated on Rivers as a GM, now he's in the running for Executive of the Year.

 

There was never anything really wrong with their starting 5 and now they have a really good bench.

Maybe DJ got wind of some talks that JSmoove would sign with the Clippers and that helped his decision to take back his verbal agreement with the Mavs.

 

Im still hatin and I doubt he comes close to Exec of the year.

I'll give that to the Spurs once again.

Matt Barnes was old and his touch on defense was slipping... Does Charlotte even keep him?

 

Wondering if Jordan's contract has a player opt out after a yr or two?

If not he (and Fegan) are idiots. The Clippers NEEDED to sign him, or they weren't going to be able to compete for a title. So they would have no choice to give him this player opt out if this is what it took for him to change his mind (again) and remain with them.

On top of that, he wasn't happy about his situation (being the 3rd wheel) and wasn't happy playing with CP. He was willing to give it another try with the Clippers, but what if nothing changes with his relationship with CP? If he and Fegan didn't put this clause in the contract they're freakin crazy.

On top of that the salary cap goes up next yr as well.

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He has a player option for year 3 and he doesnt have a problem being the third option, he just wanted a few touches instead of just being looked at as a rebounder shot blocker...

 

I bet Josh Smith starts at SF, ahead of Pierce.

That "role" I think is what sold Josh on going to the Clippers.

 

I'm not sure Josh Smith wants to play SF. I remember him having issues when the Hawks tried to put him in the SF position. He's looking for as big a contract as he can get next year so it's in his best interest to play a position he doesn't excel at. His defined role is very clear. He is Blake Griffin's backup. When Griffin is tired, Josh Smith goes in there and holds the fort until Griffin is rested. I do think Doc told Smith that he will be limiting Griffin's minutes this year so he's not so tired when the playoffs come around so Smith might get something like 12-15 minutes per game playing on a team that is a championship contender. I just think that, with the Warriors being totally stacked and the Spurs having added Aldridge and West, Smith thought his best shot at being on a team that can compete with those two teams would be to join a Clippers team that has stacked their deck a bit this offseason as well. Smith is the Clippers answer to David West signing at vet minimum for the Spurs.

As far as the starting SF position, I wouldn't be surprised if Wes Johnson starts so Pierce can play in the second unit rotation as the primary offensive option. But it doesn't really matter who starts as opposed to who finishes and Pierce, barring injury, will be finishing at SF every game.

 

God Cuban:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cuban on DeAndre: &quot;Makeup sex is always the best sex but after it's over you stare at that same face and realize the problems are the same.&quot;</p>&mdash; Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArashMarkazi/status/623871499695464448">July 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

You know that most teams played their worst defender on Pierce last year right? since he was teamed up with Wall and Beal. This is 2015, not 2008.