DeAndre Jordan Is Reportedly The Cavs’ ‘No. 1 Target’ At The Trade Deadline


Getty Image

With Thursday’s trade deadline fast approaching, the Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to be one of the main teams scrambling to make a move in order to try and salvage a season that has gone completely off the rails since the start of the new year.

There’s been all sorts of speculation about who they might be targeting in a potential trade, with George Hill emerging in recent weeks as one of their primary targets. Talks between those two teams have reached something of an impasse, however, as Hill is reportedly reluctant to agree to a buyout on his remaining contract should LeBron James decide to leave Cleveland this summer.

DeAndre Jordan is another player Cleveland has had their eye on, and those discussions have reportedly ramped up in recent days as the Clippers look to offload his contract and embark on their rebuild in earnest. Here’s what Shams Charania had to say on a recent episode of the Yahoo! Sports podcast.

H/t to RealGM for the transcript of the audio:

“They are going to be aggressive,” said Shams Charania on a Yahoo! Sports podcast previewing the trade deadline. “They are looking at guys like Derrick Favors. DeAndre Jordan is their No. 1 target. If they can somehow convince the Clippers to take on one of their bad contracts, whether it is J.R. Smith or Tristan Thompson, and give their own first, they would jump on that.

“But those scenarios just aren’t in play right now.”

Jordan would definitely help shore up a porous Cavs defense that is essentially allowing opponents to both out-rebound them and get into the paint at will, but as Charania indicated, any deal will be contingent on the Clippers’ willingness to take on one of those ugly contracts. Another sticking point is Jordan’s player option for next season, worth about $24 million, which means he would essentially be on loan, again depending on LeBron’s free agency decision.

And Jordan certainly doesn’t tip the scales in terms of the Cavs being able to compete against the Warriors if — and it’s a big if at this point — they’re able to even make it out of the East. Still, Cleveland can’t afford to sit on their hands, so who knows what will end up coming to fruition.

(Via Yahoo! Sports)

×