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Dallas Mavericks Actual Winners In DeAndre Jordan Drama

By Christian Blood

Apr 26, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban helps fire up the crown during the second half of the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Rockets 121-109. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 26, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban helps fire up the crown during the second half of the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets in game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks defeated the Rockets 121-109. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Despite what millions of NBA fans and many mainstream media outlets might suggest, the Dallas Mavericks have definitely emerged as victorious following the drama surrounding Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan.

It’s no longer front page news that Jordan completely reneged on his verbal agreement to join the Mavericks last weekend.

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What’s shocking is the fact that a sports league like the NBA even allows such an event to take place. I would expect that the ramifications of this public relations disaster won’t soon go away. The NBA itself has been embarrassed and measures should be taken to ensure that this type of potential foul-play never happens again.

Can anybody prove that this wasn’t done on purpose, simply to stall out a conference rival?

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If I were NBA commissioner Adam Silver, I would simply void the contract, hammer the Clippers with a lost first-round draft pick or two and possibly fine the you-know-what out of head coach Doc Rivers and wet-behind-the-ears owner Steve Ballmer, although that last one would be tough.

It matters not that no contract was signed before Jul. 9, either. This is all about principle on several levels.

Those fines would then be extended to any and all Clippers players that participated in something that you just don’t do in this league – obviously the stiffest penalty would be slapped right on the front door of Jordan himself. Hey, he’s got to leave the house sometimes, right?

Who knows what Silver will do, if anything, but one thing is for sure: The Mavericks dodged a major bullet in this mess.

Early last week I wrote that Dallas should probably just keep Tyson Chandler just hours before he bolted for the Phoenix Suns. I hate being right sometimes.

Sure, the idea of having Jordan looked great on paper, but did the Mavs front office really do their homework on this guy before deciding that he was a clear upgrade over Chandler? Whether he is or isn’t, was the cost worth this? Was Jordan really thought of as a leader in the locker room, like Chandler definitely was?

No, owner Mark Cuban has no crystal ball and he could never have predicted such an act of immature cowardice from any NBA player. But wasn’t there anything, in hindsight, that suggested that maybe this wasn’t the way to go?

I guess not.

But now Cuban & Co. know well and good. Can you imagine relying on this 7’1” baby-boy to get past that oh-so stiff Western Conference competition over the next few years? Please.

This guy cries because perfectionist point guard Chris Paul expects more out of him and apparently refuses high-fives with the dude during timeouts called by the opposition, right? Jordan pouts because he’s the third wheel on a team led – if you can call it that – by Paul and forward Blake Griffin.

This is because he is a third wheel, at the very least.

True NBA stars don’t have to pout or change teams to get better consideration, competitive advantage or marketing opportunities – unless their name is LeBron James, of course.

Can you imagine a player like Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Tim Duncan being involved in such a weak display of gutlessness? Of course not. Yet, by gutless I don’t refer to simply playing for the Mavericks. I’m talking about simply picking up the phone and communicating. That kind of thing is easy to do.

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    • Better yet, just sign with the Clippers without all of the obvious need to feel important during completely fake recruiting visits that meant what, exactly? Did the Mavericks need to overpay for a guy of Jordan’s mental state or emotional level?

    Well, you know what I think about that.

    Yes, 2015-16 might very well be in the tank. If I’m Cuban, I’m putting forward Chandler Parsons and new free agent acquisition Wesley Matthews under no pressure at all to return from their respective injuries. I’m tempted to sit forward Dirk Nowitzki for as much as needed in my race to a record of 2-80 – no danger of losing that pick to the Boston Celtics, I don’t think.

    Hey, the NBA Lottery, among the worst and least effective ideas in the history of professional sports, has to better than this – though that crapshoot has never, ever been kind to Dallas. But it has to better than the muck that the NBA’s free agent signing process has become.

    Now, the Mavericks can rebuild, and rebuild the right way and for the long haul. You really think that Jordan was going to skyrocket this weakened Dallas roster into the Western Conference Finals next year? I think the answer to that question is quite obvious by now.

    Victory to Dallas.

    Next: Dallas Mavericks: No Lin, No Problem

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