Well how is this for a turn of events? Exactly one day after Los Angeles Clippers guard J.J. Redick gave the team an "F" this offseason for failing to re-sign DeAndre Jordan, they are trying to convince Jordan to back out of his deal with the Dallas Mavericks and come back to Los Angeles. It appears the front office of the Clippers was listening when Redick was speaking.
Jordan had initially had a verbal agreement with the Mavericks about a week ago, but it hasn't become official because, like with all free agent deals, contracts can't be signed until Thursday. It is generally agreed that when a player makes a verbal commitment to another team, that player becomes off limits, but the Clippers have reportedly arranged a meeting for Wednesday where Doc Rivers, and possibly Steve Ballmer, will make one final pitch to get Jordan to back out of his deal, according to ESPN.
Jordan has reportedly been in contact with some of his former Clippers teammates in recent days, saying that he is still "torn" about his decision to go to Dallas despite verbally accepting their four year $80 million deal. It has also been reported that instead of talking to Jordan's representatives, the Clippers have gone straight to the first team All-NBA Defensive player.
This news certainly came out of the blue, and at this point it would still come as at least a minor surprise if Jordan was back with the Clippers next season, mainly because earlier reports from ESPN said that Jordan was sick of hearing Chris Paul bark at him.
This story is certainly nowhere close to over at this point, but as of right now Jordan is still verbally committed to the Mavericks. You really can't fault the Clippers effort here but it may be one of those too little, too late situations.
