Clippers center DeAndre Jordan has recently had dinner with team owner Steve Ballmer to discuss his future, and has also spoken to the club a few times about an extension, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. However, according to Turner, the two sides aren’t close to a new deal.
Jordan, 29, can become an unrestricted free agent this July if he decides to turn down his player option for 2018/19. With the Clippers hanging around the playoff race in the Western Conference, Jordan’s uncertain future looms large over the club’s potential direction at the trade deadline — if extension talks are unproductive and the front office is worried about losing Jordan for nothing in the offseason, a trade is plausible.
The deadline for a contract extension is still a ways off, as Jordan and the Clippers could reach an agreement anytime before June 30. It’s also possible that the veteran center will opt into the final year of his deal this summer if he’s unsure about his ability to get a deal on the open market that’s more player-friendly than his $24MM+ option. Still, the February 8 trade deadline is an important date for the Clippers, since it could represent the club’s last chance to get assets in return for Jordan.
For his part, Jordan – who recently established a new record for most games played as a Clipper – hopes to spend the rest of his career with the franchise, according to Turner. However, the big man acknowledges that the decision isn’t just his to make.
“Whatever they decide to do, they decide to do,” Jordan said of the Clippers. “I can’t control that. I can only play basketball and that’s what I do. My love for the game will be wherever. For me, the most important thing is being wanted and appreciated where you are. And wherever that is, I’m going to be happy. And if it’s here, that’s amazing. If not, then it’s a business sometimes.”
He would be absolutely perfect on the Bucks, offer Maker and Middleton.
Without Middleton the bucks are garbage
Not really, they can go with Tony Snell and run a backcourt of Bledsoe and Brogdon. Would not be much of a drop off plus they have Jabari coming back so he is pretty much expendable.
Middleton has been healthier and more effective than Jabari Parker. He fits in better next to Giannis as well.
I wouldn’t do that if I was the Bucks, I’d see how Maker develops
I am having a hard time seeing him get $24M a year if he opts out. I can’t even see him getting anything close to that.
Yeah, I’m increasingly skeptical that he’ll get that sort of annual salary on a long-term deal. But if it comes down to a decision between one year at $24MM and, say, a four-year deal that pays something like $15-17MM annually… it could definitely make sense to take the long-term guaranteed money.