The Cleveland Cavaliers could have had Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, a one-time All-Star, and LeBron James knew about it but he really isn’t worried about it.
DeAndre Jordan was nearly a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cavs forward LeBron James acknowledges that his acquisition would have given the team a boost but he’s not dwelling on the decision.
James was asked about the possibility of Jordan, who scored 20 points and hauled in 23 rebounds on Friday, becoming one of his teammates after the Cavaliers lost 116-102 to the Los Angeles Clippers. Per cleveland.com‘s Joe Vardon, this was James’ response:
"“I don’t play fantasy basketball,” James said. “I knew the conversations were going on from the outside. I seen it. If it would have happened it would have gave us a boost but it didn’t happen so you move on.”"
On the fateful day that saw Cavs general manager Koby Altman make trade deadline deals with the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings, the Cavaliers could have had the Los Angeles Clippers center.
In a piece written by ESPN basketball insider Adrian Wojnarowski, it was reported that the Cavs and Clippers had agreed on a trade that would send Jae Crowder, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert and a Cavaliers first-round pick to Los Angeles in exchange for Jordan.
However, the Cavaliers would have to find a third team to take Shumpert’s contract.
In real-time, it seems like finding a third team just didn’t happen quick enough. The Cavaliers ended up agreeing to a deal that would send Frye, Isaiah Thomas and their first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Jordan Clarkson, a volume scorer for the second unit, and Larry Nance Jr., the Akron-born center whose father’s numbers hangs from the rafters in Quicken Loans Arena.
Without a first-round pick to give to the Clippers or the desire to give Jordan, who will be 30-years-old in July, a lucrative contract extension. Especially when Jordan could opt-out of his contract in the offseason and LeBron James could leave the team for what he sees as greener pastures, leading Jordan to leave Cleveland as well.
It will probably always be a ‘what if’ trade for the Cleveland Cavaliers but, to be fair, the most important thing to do at the trade deadline was reset the culture. Altman’s solution to that issue seemed to be, first and foremost, to trade Thomas. It was certainly one of his core objectives, according to Wojnarowski.
"In ESPN’s conversations with those involved in the final hours of completing the three trades, a common theme emerged: One way or another, Altman planned to make dramatic changes to the roster. Whatever incarnations of deals emerged and re-emerged, the Cavaliers organization was sure of this: Isaiah Thomas had to go, Dwyane Wade deserved to make a decision on his own and, ultimately, Cleveland couldn’t give LeBron James reason to leave so easily in July."
Thomas’ trade was the first deal announced for the Cavs on the trade deadline and, in many ways, deciding not to trade for Jordan could be seen as an overwhelming desire to trade the 5-foot-9 malcontent with a penchant for producing soundbites oozing with toxicity.
In a way, Nance Jr. is somewhat of a consolation prize for Jordan.
He doesn’t have the size, girth of shot-blocking ability of Jordan, who has two inches, 35 pounds and 1,173 more blocks on him. Jordan averages 1.7 blocks per game for his career while Nance Jr. averages 0.5 blocks per game for his career.
However, Nance Jr. certainly has a winning mentality, makes winning plays, displays great defensive energy and ability, can knock down outside jumpers, operate as a passer and, lastly, has upper-echelon athleticism himself. Nance Jr. was just named the runner-up (to electrifying rookie Donovan Mitchell) in the 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Break.
Add Clarkson to the equation, a Tazmanian devil who averages the second-highest points per game average for bench players, and it’s a solid haul.
Especially adding two young and athletic players who considered James to be their favorite player growing up meaning that they would (a) help the team play faster (b) have a real sense of pride in being Cavaliers and (c) will be more apt to take a little brother role to James, which has a real effect on the interpersonal dynamic of the locker room.
By saving Crowder for the trade with the Utah Jazz, it allowed them to get a secondary playmaker in Rodney Hood that they could use in the starting lineup with Kevin Love sidelined until nearly the end of the regular season. A playmaker who could also help the Cavaliers replace some of the perimeter scoring prowess that went missing with Kyrie Irving (and then Thomas).
Oh, by the way, Hood is another young athlete whose favorite player was James growing up.
Acquiring Jordan certainly wouldn’t have filled this many holes for them, especially in terms of what the got on the perimeter (in a league driven by perimeter play) and in the locker room. To think, I haven’t even mentioned veteran point guard George Hill, a locker room leader and a defensive-minded perimeter player with length, athleticism, intelligence and a pretty good three-point stroke.
So, James was right. Jordan would have provided a boost with his defense and rebounding but the Cavaliers opted not to trade for him. As a result, ‘missing out’ on Jordan isn’t anything to dwell on.