DeAndre Jordan in Free-Agent Driver's Seat After Tyson Chandler Bolts for Suns
There's leverage, and then there's whatever DeAndre Jordan is enjoying at the moment.
All of a sudden, the big man is rather easily the top free-agent center available on the open market. Sure, Marc Gasol hasn't inked a deal yet, but it's going to be awfully difficult to pry him away from the Memphis Grizzlies, to the point that the teams focused on acquiring a big man are going after Jordan first and foremost.
Greg Monroe is now off the market after signing a three-year max deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. But the bigger deal is the early acquisition of Tyson Chandler, since he was widely viewed as an insurance policy for the two primary Jordan suitors—a re-signing possibility for Dallas and as part of a double sign-and-trade situation for Los Angeles.
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Rather than remain patient, as his old team would presumably have preferred, Chandler got his money rather early, and he's certainly not going to complain about how things panned out. He's now going to the Phoenix Suns, making a sizable chunk of change, playing for an organization that will value his defensive capabilities and working with arguably the league's best training staff:
Obviously, this is great news for Chandler.
But it has to be even more exciting for Jordan, because he now controls the proceedings and the market. He has nearly all of the leverage imaginable, as both the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks are left without realistic backup plans. If Robin Lopez comes off the market before Jordan makes his decision, you can drop the word "nearly" from the previous sentence, because Enes Kanter and Kosta Koufos would then be the best remaining backup plans.
Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are also technically in the hunt, but we're not going to focus on them now, following Brad Turner's report for the Los Angeles Times:
This is now about the Clippers and Mavericks, two teams that simply can't afford to miss out on landing the services of this uber-athletic 7-footer. Both will throw the kitchen sink at him, but he can only choose one.
The Dallas Mavericks
If Jordan chooses to join the Mavericks, he'll form a frightening frontcourt tandem with Dirk Nowitzki. Those two automatically provide a nice balance between offense and defense, one that will only be aided by the versatility of Chandler Parsons.
On top of that, it would be far more likely that the Mavs manage to acquire significant talent in the backcourt, as they'd have a much stronger foundation to build upon. This team isn't going to have much success with Devin Harris, Raymond Felton and other spare pieces filling out the guard positions, but there's still a possibility a player such as Wesley Matthews could provide a substantial boost. (Update: Matthews has agreed to a four-year deal with Dallas, according to David Aldridge of NBA.com.)
Already, Dallas seems to be gaining ground in the hunt:
But this isn't about what happens if Jordan does indeed change locations, taking his talents to Dallas for the next portion of his career. We're focused on the utter control he possesses on the situation, and that's best indicated by the shocking lack of backup plans for Mark Cuban's organization.
Here's how desperate the team has become, simply because of the threat of him not signing.
"Source says Mavs would consider a salary-dump deal for Roy Hibbert if DeAndre Jordan doesn't choose Dallas," Tim MacMahon reported for ESPN.com on Twitter. "But still hopeful about DJ."
Hibbert has quickly fallen out of favor in recent years, and this is a potential trade that reeks of desperation. The Mavs are doing everything possible to remain in the playoff hunt during the tail end of Nowitzki's NBA career, but it seems unlikely this would be the move necessary to achieve that goal.
Even if they gave up absolutely nothing in return, they could be going to war with a three-man core of Hibbert, Nowitzki and Parsons. Matthews coming to town wouldn't be enough to push that group into the realm of playoff candidates in the tough Western Conference, and the Mavs aren't really pursuing any other top-notch free agents.
"In a busy first day of free agency, lots of players stayed with their previous teams and a few notables came to terms with other teams. Quality help is quickly sliding off the board," Eddie Sefko wrote for the Dallas Morning News at the end of his article about why signing Jordan is so important to this organization. "Yet another reason why the Mavericks have to go all-in on Jordan."
Normally, you have to win multiple championships and establish yourself as a local legend before you're given the key to the city.
Jordan basically already has one, simply because he can either keep the Mavs in the playoff hunt or doom them to a low lottery finish with a single stroke of his pen. He's so important that Cuban may just offer him a permanent spot on the Shark Tank panel, filming only during the offseason.
And while the Clippers' situation isn't quite so extreme, because of a higher expected floor in 2015-16, it's still similar.
The Los Angeles Clippers
"If anybody else gets that award, we need to have an investigation," Los Angeles head coach Doc Rivers said last season, via ESPN.com's Arash Markazi, while pushing for his star center to win Defensive Player of the Year. "What he's doing defensively, if he was doing that offensively, he would be recognized as the MVP or one of them, but because it's defense, no one notices."
Entering the free-agency period, the Clippers had to feel confident Jordan would get a chance to prove his coach right in 2015-16. Not only were they able to offer the big man a massive contract and keep him in a situation he knew could produce a lot of wins, but he wouldn't have to pack up his bags and leave for a new location if he re-signed. On top of that, LAC had a reasonable backup plan, just in case he decided to depart.
But all of that has spiraled out of control.
First, as Ramona Shelburne reported for ESPN.com, the Clippers started to realize there was a legitimate possibility the big man could leave them:
That's problematic enough, but it wasn't the end of the world.
After all, Los Angeles entered the offseason with confidence it could pull off a sign-and-trade for Chandler if Jordan did indeed decide he wanted to move to the Lone Star State. Again, via Shelburne:
Now, that's obviously no longer a possibility, and it means this franchise has reason to feel a bit panicked. Limited assets would have made the original idea tough, but it's literally impossible with Chandler already a member of the Phoenix franchise.
Not only are there no realistic options to replace Jordan at center, but the Clippers are already capped out. Unlike the Mavericks, they couldn't even go after a second-tier free-agent center such as Lopez, Kanter or Koufos. Instead, they'd be left trying to fit someone in with a veteran minimum, since the incumbent pieces, Lance Stephenson and Paul Pierce will already account for right around $67 million.
They'd be up a creek without Jordan back in the fold. The cap situation leaves them without a paddle.
As MacMahon explains, they don't have nearly as many options as Dallas:
"Maybe the trade market would be the best backup plan for their [the Mavericks'] big shopping at this point. Hey, Indiana Pacers, still looking to dump Roy Hibbert and his $15.5 million expiring contract?
The Clippers wouldn’t have any of those options, armed with only the midlevel exception if they have to fill Jordan’s large shoes, not to mention find a starting small forward.
"
Oh, and that mini-midlevel exception? As reported by Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times, that's how the Clippers managed to sign Pierce.
The good news for LAC is that it'll be in the playoff hunt no matter who plays center. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin basically guarantee that, and the arrivals of Pierce and Stephenson will only aid the process for such a shallow roster. But the bad news is the complete dearth of options if Jordan does leave for Dallas.
The situation here is even more dire than in the center's other potential location.
Jordan is now holding the fate of two franchises in the palm of his oversized hand. A single stroke of his pen will change everything for one of them while guaranteeing him a max deal on his own terms.
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
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