The Cleveland Cavaliers are in total disarray and desperate to fix their slew of issues before the trade deadline passes. One player they have targeted is DeAndre Jordan.
The Cleveland Cavaliers defense currently ranks 26th in the NBA. Their defense is one of the many issues they are keen on improving before the trade deadline and there only player on the market who might be a one-size-fits-all solution in Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.
The Cavaliers reportedly have made an initial offer for Jordan, per Sam Amick of USA Today. The offer consisted of the Cavaliers 2018 first round pick, J.R. Smith, and Tristan Thompson.
Had the Clippers agreed to the trade it would’ve helped the Cavaliers with many issues as Amick stated. Jordan would’ve helped clean up their defensive woes, they would’ve cleared the contracts of Thompson and Smith which they’re interested in doing, and would’ve still kept the Brooklyn pick.
However, the Clippers said no. It’s not that the Clipper don’t want to trade Jordan, they do, they’ve made it clear they’re in a trade now mode after dealing Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons in a blockbuster deal last week.
The Clippers don’t want to take on expensive contracts though. One of their top priorities is clearing space to give themselves the opportunity to pursue high-level free agents in the upcoming off-seasons.
They made this clear with the return they got in the Griffin deal. Avery Bradley came over on an expiring contract, Boban Marjanovic is owed a little over $15 million for the next two seasons, and Tobias Harris is owed a similar amount over the same amount of time.
It will be tough for the Clippers to shed Jordan’s salary without taking poor contracts back. Jordan is currently owed roughly $46.7 million total over the next two seasons and salaries need to come close to matching for a trade to work.
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Another piece of this deal is that if the trade goes through and improves the Cavs to the point where they potentially compete with the Warriors in the Finals this season (not going to happen but this is just a hypothetical) it increases the likelihood that LeBron James stays in Cleveland.
The Clippers are trying to open up max cap space so they can sign LeBron James.
There are many moving parts and both short-term and long-term considerations involved for both teams in this trade. With the trade deadline only two days away, it seems unlikely for the Cavaliers and the Clippers to get all of that sorted out to a satisfactory level for both teams.