Per ESPN's Marc Stein, DeAndre Jordan has agreed to a 4 year - $80+ million deal. There is a player option on the fourth year. He had taken meetings with the Clippers, Mavericks, Knicks, and Lakers prior to signing with the Mavericks.
For the Clippers, this is nothing short of catastrophic. The Clippers used their mid-level exception on Paul Pierce, and their bi-annual exception on Jordan Farmar last season, who they later waived. Because of this, they have just $2.1 million in cap space if they want to sign a center above the minimum. If they don't another option is to pursue a sign-and-trade for Pacers center Roy Hibbert. The Pacers have been trying to dump Hibbert's onerous $15.5 million contract, and the Clippers could take on Hibbert's contract for a last-ditch center option. But no matter how you spin it, the Clippers are absolutely screwed.
DeAndre Jordan was the perfect roll partner for Chris Paul. While is offensive game is limited, his raw speed makes him an unstoppable force when rolling towards the rim. He is adept at putting home alley-oops from the pick and roll, netting 259 baskets from alley-oops this season. Jordan also became a plus defender, and I haven't even begun to speak of his rebounding prowess. He had the first 15 RPG season since Kevin Love in 2011, and was an incredible offensive rebounder. As Blake Griffin developed a strong mid-range game, DeAndre was left free to operate in the restricted area. All spacing issues of past for the Clippers were gone, as DeAndre complimented Blake's game perfectly.
For the Mavericks, they got the perfect piece to replace the departed Tyson Chandler. With the 26 (soon to be 27) year old Jordan, they have a long-term building block for the future. In the short term, DeAndre can be the big-name free agent to help Dirk. While they're still a long shot to make it out of the West, a two-way player of Jordan's caliber will vault them above the fray of NBA purgatory. Dirk is the perfect 4 to pair DeAndre with, one who is best operating between 18-24 feet. With Jordan's expressed interest to have an 'expanded offensive role,' the spacing Dirk provides will allow him to succeed in the restricted area.
As a Clippers fan, I'm terrified. Terrified that we might have blown our best chance at a title. Terrified that Blake and Chris will move on when their contracts expire. Terrified that this is the first step on the path back to the bottom. In the short term, a replacement level center like Roy Hibbert can keep them in contention, but there's no way to fill this void. I could easily see them being bounced in the first round for a few seasons, before slowly drifting back into irrelevance. The time in the sun was great, but now it's beginning to set. Fuck, this is just terrible.