Portland Trail Blazers: Should they trade for DeAndre Jordan?

here have been some rumors flying around that the Portland Trail Blazers are interested in Los Angeles Clippers big man, DeAndre Jordan. Should the Blazers try and acquire the All-NBA center?

The Los Angeles Clippers were the talk of the NBA this past week after they traded the face of their franchise, Blake Griffin, to the Detroit Pistons. Griffin signed a five-year, $173 million deal this past summer to stay with LA.

Six months later, the Clippers moved on from Griffin for three players, a first round draft pick and a second round draft pick.

L.A. has not had the season it expected to have. The Clippers are currently 27-25 and ninth in the Western Conference. After trading their best player, the Clippers may be looking to make more moves before the deadline is over.

The most significant name, their best remaining player, and the guy with the most value on their team is DeAndre Jordan. This season, Jordan is averaging 14.6 rebounds, 11.6 points, 1.2 assists, 1.0 blocks per game. He is making $22.6 million this season and has a player option for $24 million next season.

Jordan’s name has been involved in trade rumors all season long. Now with Griffin gone, it would make sense for the Clippers to move on from Jordan and start a new era of Clippers basketball.

Should the Portland Trail Blazers trade for DeAndre Jordan?

DeAndre Jordan has been a name Portland Trail Blazers fans have been discussing trading for all season. He is a big-name player that could help the team right away. Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey was part of the front office in L.A. when Jordan was drafted back in 2008.

Now that we are getting closer to the deadline, there have been reports that the Blazers are interested Jordan.

Broderick Turner of the LA Times said the Blazers and Clippers have talked about a trade involving Jordan, but no formal offer has been made. The Clippers are apparently seeking younger talent, cap space flexibility and a first round pick for Jordan.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast he believes Jordan will either be on the Clippers or the Blazers after the trade deadline.

Portland can offer Los Angeles all three of their desired returns for Jordan. They can send a first round pick, young talent and expiring contracts.

They could make a trade like this:

Why the Blazers make this trade

The Blazers do not want to waste Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum’s prime years or even worse, have one of those guys ask for a trade. Getting Jordan would make a statement to both those players that the organization is trying to win with them now,

Jusuf Nurkic is 23 years old and still hasn’t reached his prime basketball. Usually, teams hold onto those guys, but the Blazers don’t have time to wait around for Nurkic to develop his game.

He can dominate at teams but also can just disappear from games. Terry Stotts rarely plays Nurkic in the fourth quarter or in crunch time. He goes with Ed Davis or Zach Collins instead. Nurkic is only playing about 26.6 minutes per game this season and averaging 14.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 assists per game, shooting 47 percent from the field.

More from Portland Trail Blazers

• Damian Lillard needs just two words to dismantle a Blazers fan’s hot take
• NBA Rumors: Stalled trade talks may lead to Blazers, 76ers keeping stars
• The NBA’s strong message to Lillard clears path for a major trade
• NBA Trades: Is this the deal that finally sends Damian Lillard to Miami?
• 5 players who will challenge Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year

According to Cleaning The Glass, Jusuf Nurkic is shooting 46 percent of his shots from the mid-range but only making 38 percent of them. He is also taking 53 percent of his shots near the rim and just converting on 58 percent.

Nurkic needs the ball in his hands to be effective, and it seems random when he is going to play well. The Blazers call plays for Nurkic and force-feed him the ball in post and mid-range. It takes the ball out of hands of the Blazers’ backcourt players.
.
Nurkic is good rim protector at times and contests a lot of shots. He struggles defending guys out on the perimeter, and that’s where he often fouls or gets beat. The 23-year-old has tools to be a good rebounder with his long arms and big body.

The Bosnian Beast is a restricted free agent this summer and is going to be joining a large pool of big men in free agency. Whatever team he is on may be able to bring the young, talented center back on a favorable deal.

Why Jordan makes sense for the Blazers

The Blazers don’t need another go-to scoring option like Nurkic. They need a guy who gets them second chance points, is an active rebounder and plays defense. Someone that can help make up for the weaknesses of their stars, Lillard and McCollum. That’s why the Blazers have been playing Ed Davis and Zach Collins a lot more. They are guys who know their role and don’t need the ball to make an impact on the game.

Jordan is precisely that type of player.

The Blazers get their defensive anchor in Jordan. He gives the Blazers an elite rebounder and shot-blocker. Jordan is 29 years old and is playing his best basketball. He is a two-time First Team All-Defense player, two-time All-NBA Third Team selection, and a one-time All-NBA First Team player.

The Blazers wouldn’t need to worry about getting Jordan involved on the offensive end like they do Nurkic.

According to NBA.com, Nurkic has a usage of 27.3 percent, Player Efficiency Rating of 17.5 and takes 12.3 shot attempts per game. Jordan has a usage of 14.3 percent, PER of 19.3 and takes 7.3 shots attempts per game.

Jordan could fit in just as Ed Davis does. He would set screens, roll down the lane looking for lobs, getting offensive rebounds and put-back baskets. Defenses would have headaches trying to guard a rolling Jordan or a penetrating guard like Lillard or McCollum.

According to Cleaning The Glass, Jordan is shooting 89 percent of his shots near the rim, and he is making 71 percent of them. Jordan is an elite offensive rebounder, grabbing 4.3 offensive rebounds per game, and would be a massive improvement over Nurkic in that area.

On defense, he can defend the rim and can guard guys out on the wing. He would help make up for Lillard and McCollum’s limitations on defense because teams would know they couldn’t get easy shots at the basket with Jordan around.

Sam Dekker and Wes Johnson are wings that would provide solid depth for the Blazers. They are both big, long and could help make up for the loss of Harkless. Both players have one more year left on their deals after this season.

They are on cheap deals so the Blazers could easily package them into another trade or release one of them after this season and not pay a huge penalty.

This trade gives the Blazers a Big Three of Lillard, McCollum and Jordan. They would be able to compete this season and could add guys on minimum deals this summer who want to play with that Big Three.

Why the Clippers do this trade

The Clippers are moving into a new era and DeAndre Jordan is not likely to be apart of it. They traded longtime star point guard Chris Paul last summer and Griffin this season.

Jordan has a player option next season for $24.1 million and I doubt the Clippers want to pay him that (and likely more since he’ll almost certainly opt out for a new deal) if they are indeed rebuilding their roster with younger players.

The Blazers can offer the Clippers one of the best packages for Jordan. They add three players that can help them right away, plus draft assets for the future.

Portland can send them multiple first round picks.  The Blazers don’t need their draft picks the next couple seasons; they need players that can help them win games.

Jusuf Nurkic is a promising center that could start for the Clippers for the next few seasons. He is 23, but is talented enough to help L.A. win games. The Clippers move on from their older center for a younger one who they can pay much cheaper. LA could have their center for the future and could focus on building their roster in other ways.

Maurice Harkless is 24 and is on a favorable contract the next few seasons. He could start for the Clippers at small forward or could be an excellent role player off the bench.

Harkless can defend multiple positions, finish at the rim and has the potential to be a decent 3-point shooter. He is the type of wing player teams want. He has fallen out of the rotation in Portland and could find more consistent playing time in L.A.

Ed Davis is a free agent this summer and could be a guy the Clippers bring back on a decent contract or let him walk in free agency. He is a reliable big man on both ends of the floor and is an active rebounder.

Davis is excellent at cleaning up his teammate’s misses and creating second-chance opportunities. He does the little things to help his team win games. He does similar things as Jordan, so Davis would help make up for the loss of him if the Clippers decided to keep him.

Trading Jusuf Nurkic for DeAndre Jordan is a risk for the Blazers

The front office would need to talk to Lillard and McCollum and see if they think Jordan could help them win more games than Nurkic could.

If the Blazers did trade for Jordan, they would have to make other moves as well to improve the roster. They need to add a wing that can shoot and make plays. They also need to trade either Meyers Leonard or Evan Turner since they are adding Jordan’s big contract.

If they add Jordan, it is an excellent step to making the Blazers better this season and hopefully beyond. It’s a risky move for the long-term future of this team. They would be locked into paying Jordan a lot of money this summer when his contract is up.

Next: 2018 NBA Draft big board: End of January

But the Blazers have to focus on the prime of Lillard and McCollum and bring in guys who can help them be competitive this season and beyond to at least give them a shot to compete in Western Conference playoffs.