The Los Angeles Clippers were ready to tell DeAndre Jordan to pack his bags before their crosstown foe ruined their plans.
The Clippers believed they were close to agreeing to trade the center to the Cleveland Cavaliers ahead of the NBA trade deadline until news of the Cavs-Lakers trade broke Thursday, NBA sources told ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. Jordan ultimately remained with the Clippers, while the Cavs made three separate trades in which they acquired four players in an effort to rebuild their roster on the fly.
Windhorst didn’t specify what the Jordan to Cleveland trade would have entailed, but Los Angeles reportedly was seeking a combination of young players and draft picks for him and/or teammate Lou Williams.
Jordan, 29, is expected to opt out of the final year of his contract this summer and become an unrestricted free agent.
After nine-plus seasons with the Clippers, Jordan was noncommittal when asked if he wanted to finish his career with the team that drafted him in 2008.
“I want to finish my career wherever I’m wanted and appreciated,” Jordan said Friday, per The Los Angeles Times’ Broderick Turner. “That’s all.”
If Jordan really started packing his bags ahead of a deadline-day move he, probably should leave them as they are for the next few months.
