9:19pm: Cuban has begun to notify people within the Mavericks organization that Jordan is remaining in Los Angeles, Stein tweets.
7:33pm: Jordan has indicated to the Clippers that he intends to remain with the team, and team representatives intend to remain with the center until he can put pen to paper on a new deal at midnight, Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com report (Twitter link).
7:13pm: At least three league sources have disputed the claim that Fegan steered Jordan to agree to sign with Dallas, Stein tweets.
5:30pm: The Mavericks are not optimistic about Jordan signing with the team, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
2:55pm: Jordan won’t decide until he meets face-to-face with the Mavs, as Stein hears (Twitter link).
2:26pm: The idea of Fegan demanding the Clippers trade Paul “is very much not true and ridiculous,” a source told Turner (on Twitter).
2:23pm: The Clippers expect Jordan will pick them, Eaves tweets. On the Dallas side, recruiter extraordinaire Chandler Parsons will indeed be at the Mavs’ meeting with Jordan, as Amick and Zillgitt write, and as Parsons had indicated on Twitter.
1:59pm: Eaves adds that Jordan decided the Clippers were the better option once he sat back and compared their roster against that of the Mavs, according to a source (Twitter link). Ballmer is indeed in the meeting, too, Wojnarowski tweets.
1:54pm: Jordan told Rivers on Monday that he’d made a mistake, and the feeling within Jordan’s family, who want him to stay with the Clippers, is that Fegan pushed him to sign in Dallas, according to SportsCenter’s Michael Eaves. Fegan made an ultimatim to Rivers prior to Jordan’s agreement to sign with the Mavs that the Clippers would have to trade Paul to keep Jordan, a source also told Eaves (All five Twitter links here).
1:42pm: Jordan is increasingly leaning toward the Clippers, Stein and Shelburne write. Paul has been among those pushing hardest to convince the center to stay with the Clips. The Clippers believe they’ll bring Jordan back to L.A. with them tonight, Stein tweets.
12:58pm: The renewed push from the Clippers began when Jordan started having second thoughts on Monday and called Rivers, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
12:50pm: Mavs owner Mark Cuban has traveled to Houston to try to fend off the Clippers’ efforts, sources tell Stein (Twitter link).
12:48pm: Paul Pierce and J.J. Redick will be in the meeting, too, Woike tweets.
12:40pm: Jordan appears to be 50/50 on either forging ahead with his Mavs deal or re-signing with the Clippers instead, Markazi reports (on Twitter).
12:21pm: Some people within the Mavs organization are indeed concerned, as the Clippers pose a legitimate threat, according to Amick (Twitter link).
12:16pm: The Clippers felt Jordan’s representatives were pushing him to sign with Dallas, Markazi tweets. Fegan and the Mavs have long had a close working relationship.
12:07pm: It sounds like Paul will be part of the Clippers’ party traveling to Houston to meet with Jordan, tweets Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. Stein follows with a similar tweet, and it seems like the Clippers contingent will indeed get that meeting with Jordan. The Clippers expect the meeting to happen, according to Amick (Twitter link).
12:00pm: Clippers officials weren’t pleased with the way the Mavs recruited Jordan, part of the reason they’re breaking protocol and continuing to go after him, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The Clippers weren’t pleased that Jordan had only one meeting with them while Dallas both dined and met with him, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times hears (on Twitter).
11:57pm: The Clippers have gone directly to Jordan, rather than Fegan or other representatives at Relativity Sports, as Stein wrote, and one source close to Jordan called it an underhanded maneuver, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The relationship between Paul and Jordan isn’t perfect, but they have spoken with each other throughout Jordan’s free agency and have a mutual respect, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
11:51am: Jordan and Griffin have already spoken, and it’s possible that Paul joins the recruitment, too, sources tell Stein. Paul and Jordan reportedly haven’t seen eye to eye, though conflicting reports make it tough to get a read on just how much of a factor that’s been in Jordan’s thinking.
11:45am: Jordan started having second thoughts early this week, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports indicates (on Twitter). The Clippers have been pushing to meet with Jordan today in Houston that would involve Rivers and perhaps owner Steve Ballmer, and some Clippers players have been in contact with Jordan as well, sources tell Stein for a full piece. Broussard hears that Jordan has told people close to him that since choosing Dallas, he’s still feeling “torn” and “unsure,” as Stein passes along in the same piece.
11:29am: The Clippers continue to try to convince DeAndre Jordan to sign with them, even though he’s already agreed to sign with the Mavericks, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The deal between Dallas and the Dan Fegan client can’t become official until the July Moratorium ends at 11pm Central tonight, but it would be highly unusual if Jordan were to reverse course.
The loss of Jordan would be devastating to the Clippers, who are without the cap space necessary to sign a comparable replacement for the defensive stalwart and league’s leading rebounder. Still, an about-face from Jordan would be perhaps equally damaging to the Mavs, who’ve since committed to sign four other players with the thinking that Jordan would be theirs.
Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers has told Jordan that he didn’t know he wanted a larger role, and the Clippers are offering to hire a big man coach and increase Jordan’s number of touches, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported June 30th that Jordan was tired of being a third wheel behind Chris Paul and Blake Griffin and wanted a larger role on offense, so Rivers should have been aware when free agency began.
Jordan has financial motivations to choose the Clippers, since they can give him 7.5% raises on the max salary he’s set to receive in his deal with Dallas, as opposed to the 4.5% raises the Mavs are limited to doling out. The Clippers can also tack a fifth year onto the deal, as opposed to the four he’s getting from the Mavs, but Jordan didn’t appear to be seeking a five-year contract.
Fegan also represents Dwight Howard, who’s indecision was a near-daily story before he signed with the Rockets two years ago. He’s also the agent for Austin Rivers, Doc’s son, who’s a free agent this summer, as Arash Markazi of ESPN.com points out (on Twitter).
Leave it to the Clippers to pull some skeevy crap like this. Sounds like the work of Chris Paul and Doc Rivers to me
Actually it’s the work of DeAndre Jordan and his conversations with Blake Griffin. Doc & the Clips are totally correct in pursuing Jordan to come back if he is having second thoughts.
If this is so “skeevy” and unprecedented, then why does the NBA have a moratorium period? Why don’t they just let people sign contracts? Clearly you have a moratorium period like this so teams and players can make adjustments up until you have a wet signature. DeAndre, while giving a verbal commitment to Dallas, has signed nothing. It’s clearly not great if he breaks his verbal commitment, but he has a perfect legal right to do so, and the Clippers have a perfect legal right to continue speaking with him if that’s what Jordan wants them to do.
The pearl-clutching is all coming from Clipper haters, and Laker lovers who were taking joy from the Clips’ woes. Not very impressive.
the reason for the moratorium is for the the owners and players union to set up the exact figures of the salary cap and luxury taxes…
obviously, it is legal. its just a sheisty move
Not if the discussion was started by DJ. He gave his word to the Mavs, true, but you seem to want the story to be that the Clippers are doing something wrong by listening to him. Don’t see how they can be faulted. It’s the player’s choice.
Things changed as the story updated…
Hey, how did know I was a Lakers fan? lmao. I agree the moratorium rule is a joke. And Jordan can sign with whoever he wants. I just thought that Jordan was all in on Dallas and LAC kept calling him trying to get another meeting. In that case its a little under handed but like u said completely legal. Now that more info has come out its not skeevy if Jordan really is having second thoughts. But it sure doesnt help his image thats a fact
DeAndre should have weighed all the options before letting people know of his decision, like an adult. Its not like anyone held a gun to his head and forced him to decide on July 4th or 5th. He had plenty of time to make his decision. The reports of his reasons to leave initially caught me as somewhat immature, and this possible flip flop would really support that notion. I like DeAndre Jordan, and even though I think its probably a better decision to stay with the Clippers, I’m going to need some time before I regain some of the respect I would lose for him if he goes down this road.
Seems like Jordan called Doc my man. Hope it’s not too windy up in that ivory tower.
This will be worth it just to see see/hear Mark Cuban freak out. But yeah, pretty cheesy Clips.
Don’t blame the Clips… Jordan called them! And yes, it would be worth it to see Cuban go ballistic… especially if Ballmer is the one doing it to him!! The moral of this story is….be very wary if Fegan is your agent!!
So b/c Broussard said it, they should assume it’s true?
Anyway, at this point, he can’t change his mind. He can, but he really cant. There would just be so much wrong with that. I personally don’t think dallas is really that good, and the clippers are still better than them, but DeAndre has to lay in the bed he made himself, and they should be able to build that team into next year, so it’s not all that bad, especially if they can get Wes Matthews healthy, and they make the playoffs this year
On a side note, this is pretty sheisty from the clippers
Well, the Clippers should try and convince Jordan to come back. He is the one who made the “verbal” commitment to Dallas. If he is having second thoughts, then why shouldn’t they try and get him back? On another note Dan Fegan is one of the sleaziest agents out there, so to see his little “side” deal with Chandler Parson backfire would be a good thing.
Deandre has said he hates bring the third wheel so why would cp3 and Blake griffin changed his mind? It doesn’t make any sense at all
If DeAndre does this, whats to stop teams from doing stuff like this?
Nothing, it’s not teams doing this, it’s Jordan being uncertain.
I’m saying that DeAndre can set a very dangerous precedent
How so?
Say dallas decides now that maybe tey don’t want to pay Wes Matthews now? Or maybe the knicks do t want to sign Robin lopez anymore, and now they want to go hard after DeAndre to see if they can’t get him? Maybe a team in the future makes moves earlier in the moratorium, and then when they realize they have a shot at a bigger free agent, they reneg on those deals. This sounds like when the heat agreed to sign McRoberts and Danny Granger last year when they thought LeBron was staying. They honored the agreement. If they hadn’t, it would have been a huge deal
You’ll just have to manage the repulational fall out of double dealing. I dont think this will change a thing.
This right here.
Words never spoken truer. I agree with everything u jusdt said.
While we’re at it the blazers might as well call Aldridge and beg him to come back,(sarcasm)
Not really, it’s rare that a player would be as immature as Jordan and not think things through. Plus letting his agent push him toward Dallas shows he’s not very smart. Easy way to settle this, have Jordan shoot 10 free throws, if he hits 6 or more he goes to Dallas, less than 6 he stays with the Clippers!
And why is it Jordan’s job to uphold these unwritten rules? What’s in it for him?
Maybe he should have weighed everything…I dont know…before letting everyone know that he was going to Dallas, on July 4th, which was a full 5 days before the end of the moratorium. Its not like someone held a gun to his head and made him choose so early.
wouldnt you compare the rosters before you make a decision
This new info just shows what I was speaking to earlier. He didn’t even make sure he made up his mind after weighing all the variables, before informing everyone of his “decision” to go to Dallas. He is within his right to do this, but as I said, it sets a dangerous precedent, and honestly, renegging on an agreement is flat out childish, and he should know that he’ll be hearing about this for a long time
Again, it sets no dangerous precedent. The only agreement was verbal and he is well within his right to change his mind. Is it professional…no…lacks integrity…yes, but he has signed nothing. The other side is the influence Jordan allowed Fegan to have over him. He was pushing Jordan to sign with Dallas even going so far as to demand the Clippers trade Chris Paul if they wanted Jordan to return to the Clippers. Now that’s shady!
Well, obviously some of that stuff about demanding they move Chris Paul has to be coming from DeAndre as well. There is also no income tax in Texas, and it’s much closer to his home. He was part of the decision to go to Dallas. We can’t just say it’s all the agent…
Again. It’s well within his rights to reneg on the deal, but why allow all of those announcements? Mark Cuban got fined for this lol…He allowed free agency (agreements) to play out and now he wants to backout on a team that operated under the belief that they were paying him $80 million over 4 years. It’s just a messed up process. My point is that he is going to be hearing about this from people for a long time
A couple of points:The bottom line is no agreement reached during the moratorium is binding until signed after the moratorium. Players can change their minds.
League rules, though, are clear: teams and players can not enter into oral agreements during the moratorium. They can only discuss terms.
I’m not arguing the legality….you keep citing that. I dont understand what we are arguing
Not arguing, just trying to make it clear that there is no precedent being set here. This has happened before and several times came close to happening. Clippers are well within their rights, as DeAndre reached out to them. Dallas will get screwed here, but it will all be on DeAndre and his agent, who once all this is said and done will be shown to have some dirt on his hands.
Its obviously on DeAndre. Maybe it wasnt clear b/c I said some things before the story updated. I’m not blaming the Clippers at this point.
Bunch of cry babies
i just find this sad. i get the feeling the clips cant find them a center they like or want with the cap they have. so they are trying so hard to get DJ to change his mind
Nothing unusual, unprecedented, illegal or underhanded. It’s the very nature of the moratorium period and the risks you take when engaging a fickle player like DeAndre.
I feel a bit for Dirk, who may not make the playoffs with that flawed, incomplete roster. I wonder…would he play somewhere else?
Blake and the Clippers are literally putting him on house arrest. This is too funny link to twitter.com
Why does hoop rumors let these clowns comment and write vertically (down) ? Pretty annoying
I wonder if Wes Matthews is on board Dallas now?