In a sudden turn of events, it seems that DeAndre Jordan has had a change of heart.
Believed to be imminently headed to the Los Angeles Clippers at first, Jordan has opted to remain in Los Angeles where he has reportedly agreed to an $87 million dollar deal spread over four-years.
The contract is larger than what Jordan was set to sign with the Dallas Mavericks ($80 million for four years) but in the end, ‘home’ was really where Jordan wanted to stay.
A meeting reportedly took place at Jordan’s home in Houston where team officials and Clipper teammates were on hand were on hand to obviously try and avert Jordan’s decision to join the Mavericks.
Reportedly present were coach Doc Rivers, team owner Steve Ballmer and teammates Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, JJ Redick and new recruit Paul Pierce. Excluded from the meeting were Jordan’s agents – Dan Fegan and Jarrin Akana.
Of the mix, Paul was reportedly the most emotional of the group. It is no secret that Paul has been weeded out as one of the prime reasons why Jordan wanted out though the All Star guard said his piece which in all seemed to be a case of misunderstanding.
While Jordan did make a verbal commitment, such is unbinding. While the NBA does discourage such to avoid messing with any team’s plans, the bottom line is that no deal is legally binding until contracts have been officially signed. Contracts can only be signed by July 9 and the Clippers apparently had the little time to convince Jordan into staying, and so they did. The Mavericks reportedly made attempts to touch base with Jordan but calls and text messages were left unanswered. It was at this point that the message was clear, Jordan is not coming to Dallas. It was at this point that team owner Mark Cuban relayed the message within the Mavericks organization, informing them that Jordan is staying with the LA Clippers.
Stoudemire headed to Miami?
With the Jordan recruitment likely to be spurned, another player linked to the Mavericks could be leaving as well - Amare Stoudemire.
There are rumors linking Amare Stoudemire to the Miami Heat as the team looks to beef up its power forward rotation. Despite struggling with his troublesome knees, Stoudemire is one of many veteran forwards reportedly being considered by Pat Riley and the Heat.
But with Jordan opting to remain with the Clippers, the Mavs may look to retain Stoudemire considering their original plans have technically been botched.
Aside from Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer is reportedly on the Heat radar as Pat Riley targets veteran and tested forwards to add to the Miami mix.