Center – Los Angeles Clippers – 6’11″, 265 lbs
Strengths
Good leaper. Height and length is very good for a center. He has the tools to be a really strong rebounder. He can finish around the rim with layups and dunks with ease. Very good shot-blocker, nice defensively, and runs the floor well for a big man.
Weaknesses
Not a strong offensive game. He is still a raw player that needs a lot of polish. He also may be one of the worst free throw shooters in the league.
What He’ll Cost
Deandre could get anywhere from $6-10 million dollars a year over 4 or 5 years. Problem is, for a player who’s still relatively unproven with a handful of weakness, that might be a slight over-payment depending on where he falls into that 6 to 10 range. Since he’s a restricted free agent, Los Angeles has the right to match any offer he gets from another team. Knowing that, you have to figure that the Clippers will at minimum match anything up to the MLE.
Three Potential Fits
Sacramento Kings
They have two things that will be appealing to Jordan. 1) A ton of money to offer and 2) a ton of minutes at the center position. The only issue here is the Kings could be in a different city in the near future. And that might not be the most appealing thing to free agents.
Los Angeles Clippers
Obviously LA can match any offer from another team. And they’ll do so for just about any sum of money you would think. But with Chris Kaman still on the books and Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon needing a payday in the foreseeable future, do the Clippers really want to pay a center that averages 7 points and 7 rebounds a game 10 million dollars? My guess is probably not.
Memphis Grizzlies
This is only an option if Marc Gasol leaves in free agency. And that is a very real possibility. If Gasol walks, Jordan would be a solid grab for a smaller-money replacement. He also figures to compliment Zach Randolph pretty well with his athleticism.
Prediction
I think he’ll end up staying in LA. Even though Memphis and Sacramento can offer him more money than he’s likely to take in LA, I just can’t see the Clippers letting him go, especially to a team in the Western Conference if they have any desire to make the playoffs with Griffin