Clippers re-sign DeAndre Jordan after he backs off commitment to join Mavericks
Free-agent center DeAndre Jordan re-signed with Los Angeles Clippers after the franchise's ownership, management and players descended upon Houston on Wednesday and helped persuade him to back off his previous commitment to join the Dallas Mavericks.
Jordan's maximum $87.6 million contract with the Clippers is for four years with a player option after the third season, league sources said. The contract also includes a 15 percent trade kicker, sources told Yahoo Sports' Marc Spears.
Jordan changed course on an agreement to sign a four-year, $80 million-plus deal with the Mavericks, a commitment that Jordan began to waver on in recent days, sources told Yahoo Sports.
Clippers coach and president Doc Rivers and owner Steve Ballmer wouldn't leave Jordan's Houston home, awaiting the 12:01 a.m. ET time when they could officially sign him, league sources said. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and other team officials had been unable to contact Jordan throughout the afternoon and evening on Wednesday, eventually abandoning pursuit of Jordan to turn to alternative options with the $20 million-plus they have in salary-cap space, league sources told Yahoo.
The Clippers' contigent had a short meeting with Jordan on Wednesday afternoon, when it became clear they didn't need to sell him hard on reneging on his commitment to the Mavericks, sources said. He had already decided to return to the Clippers. Before long, it was clear Jordan was committed to re-signing and some visitors started to play card games for the rest of the evening. Jordan's mother ordered out food for her Clippers guests, too, a source said.
Jordan had agreed in principle to a four-year, $80 million deal with the Mavericks on July 3, but reached out in the past 48 hours to Rivers and expressed uncertainty about his decision to choose Dallas, league sources said. That started the chain of events that led to the Clippers traveling to Houston to meet with Jordan on Wednesday, sources said.
Rivers converged on Houston with Ballmer and a group of players that included Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Paul Pierce and J.J. Redick to meet with Jordan – without the presence of Jordan's agents at Relativity Sports.
