Adrian Wojnarowski’s fascinating look at the NBA trade deadline and how the Cleveland Cavaliers reshaped their roster is full of small details that give us a clearer picture of what happened last week.
Included in that picture is a bit more detail about one big trade that didn’t happen. DeAndre Jordan stayed in Los Angeles with the Clippers despite months of trade rumors indicating otherwise. Those rumors seemed even more certain to be true when the franchise let go of Blake Griffin last month, indicating that the team would possibly hit the full reset button and rebuild top to bottom.
But the Clips were unable to unload Jordan and will now look to the offseason to either re-sign the forward or work a sign-and-trade. And they even signed Lou Williams to a contract extension, indicating that the team might try to keep its assets around and build on what they got in return for Griffin.
Wojnarowski’s report, however, describes just how close a deal for Jordan was. And, as it turns out, LeBron James knew how close the team was as well. The problem is, the deal never got to the finish line and other options emerged.
When Altman visited with James in the Cavaliers’ practice facility a week ago, he let him know that there were still talks alive with the LA Clippers on a Jordan deal. What’s more, there was significant progress: Altman had ownership approval to send the Clippers Jae Crowder, Channing Frye, Iman Shumpert and the Cavs’ 2018 first-round pick for Jordan. The Clippers were willing to accept the trade, but on one significant condition.
Clippers general manager Michael Winger explained to Altman that LA didn’t want another shooting guard. He hoped to find a third team that would take Shumpert and his $21 million with draft compensation, and have the Clippers get a center back. Altman and Winger agreed to make more calls to try to find a third team to make the deal work. Winger wondered whether Altman would let him talk to Shumpert’s agent about a possible contract buyout, but Altman wanted trade talks to be further along before granting that permission.
Clippers president Lawrence Frank, Winger and Altman had talked for weeks on a trade, but they got nowhere. The Clippers wouldn’t take Tristan Thompson, JR Smith or Shumpert in a deal, and that never changed. As Wednesday wore on, Altman became more convinced that a deal with Los Angeles was within reach — only not with the Clippers.
It sounds like the drama on Thursday surrounding Jordan for many Cavs fans was completely unnecessary. It also explains why the Raptors made a late push to get him, perhaps knowing that the Cavaliers were moving on to other opportunities in the market. The end result for the Cavaliers seems to have worked out much better, and the Clippers didn’t have to rush a move for Jordan at the expense of not getting the big they wanted. So Jordan will play out the season in LA, and the Cavaliers will take their retooled roster to the postseason and see what happens.
