DeAndre Jordan. Going in to the season, there was a big question as to how his contract status would affect his play. Needless to say, his play this year has been even better than Los Angeles could have hoped.
Jordan leads the league in defensive rebounds, field goal percentage, total rebounds, and effective field goal percentage. He is second in total rebound percentage and offensive rebounds. He is having a great year.
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The question is whether he is just on a ridiculous contract drive, or whether he has legitimately improved and deserves that coveted long term max or near max deal. Not just whether he deserves that deal, but also whether the Clippers can afford to pay him.
The Clippers are already capped out, but because the NBA does not have a hard cap, Los Angeles can re-sign him and pay the luxury tax, if they are willing to foot the bill.
How Big Of A Bill?
This year, the Clippers are more than $2 million over the tax line. Assuming Jordan signs for roughly $16 million per year in the offseason, that would push tax bill into the $8 million range. That would put the total salary and luxury tax costs into a very rough range of $90 million to $95 million.
Obviously, things are fluid at the end of the year with the other players on the team and any signings/trades/etc.
Nevertheless, the Clippers had the second-highest NBA payroll this year, behind the Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn’s payroll is around $91 million this year, while the Clippers are around $85 million.
Even being the premier team in Los Angeles, that is still a lot of money.
Steve Ballmer Is Not Poor
The new owner of the Clippers is not poor. Steve Ballmer had no problem writing out a check for $2 billion when the Clippers became available. There were no worries about finding the cash to push the transaction through. Instead, he blew away the other bidders, pulled out his checkbook, and happily wrote a multi-billion dollar check for his new toy.
However, even Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, estimated to have a net worth of more than $9 billion, scoffed at paying the luxury tax for multiple years. Remember, with the new CBA, there is the repeater penalty for teams that are consistently over the luxury tax threshold.
According to Larry Coon’s NBA CBA FAQ, the Clippers could face a very steep bill.
By the end of a max deal with DeAndre Jordan, the Clippers could conceivably be paying $3.50 per dollar over the tax level. Even Ballmer might balk at that kind of payment.
So, Trade Him Or Pay Him?
This is a tough one. If you do not want to pay the tax, then you cannot sign Jordan to the huge deal he will undoubtedly receive in the summer. However, if you are not signing Jordan, then would it make sense to trade him before the February trade deadline?
Not so fast with that. While Jordan is an unrestricted free agent, he would still prefer to stay with the Clippers, and most likely, they will have the opportunity to match any offer, and more than that, they could work out a sign-and-trade agreement with any free agent suitor.
Few good teams have the cap space to fit a max player like Jordan, so some teams will definitely be willing to talk sign-and-trade with Los Angeles. There is no rush to deal Jordan now, even if you do not want to sign him.
The Clippers should play out the season, and then deal with the situation after their playoff run is over. Ballmer can decide exactly how much of his money he is willing to spend, and how fast the salary cap is projected to rise.
This Is Not A Dwightmare Situation
We all remember the nightmare that was Dwight Howard‘s last year with the Orlando Magic. The trade rumors. The waffling. The 11th hour emergency written guarantee to opt-in.
We will not see that, thankfully, with Jordan. First, Jordan is not the attention-mongering personality that is Howard. Second, sustained team success gives the Clippers more power in any negotiation, where the Magic were desperate to keep Dwight.
Finally, this Clippers team is full of superstar players to support Jordan. Los Angeles will be better off keeping Jordan, but if he leaves, they are still a championship contender.
No matter how you look at it, the Clippers and Jordan are in a good situation this season. The playoffs are calling. No need to stress about what might happen in July.
Next: Should the Clippers Revive The Arron Afflalo Trade Talk?
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