Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
Hyland DeAndre Jordan Jr. is a man that will forever be hated by the Mavericks faithful.
Just five days ago this man made a city rejoice. Mavericks fans talked about how this was going to start the post-Nowitzki era. This was going to send Dirk off with great chances at another championship and when he decided to hang them up, the young nucleus was still going to be there. With DeAndre, Parsons and Matthews this team can compete for years to come.
However, Wednesday morning the dream that Mavericks fans had been peacefully enjoying turned into a terrible nightmare. Rumors and speculation started popping up that DeAndre Jordan was having second thoughts. Mavericks fans witnessed the first ever emoji battle between Clippers and Mavericks signifying that they were on their way to Houston to talk to DeAndre. The Clippers sent Doc, Griffin, Paul, Pierce, J.J. and Crawford to help make sure that DeAndre came back to a team that without him, would not be in the race for a championship. Dallas countered with Parsons and owner Mark Cuban just to talk and convince DeAndre that he had made the right choice in leaving, but that didn’t happen. Instead, nobody from the Mavericks organization had talked to Jordan since Tuesday night and the hope that they could speak to him again quickly evaporated.
Around 9 o’clock Central Time on Wednesday night the Mavericks had waved the white flag realizing that DeAndre had turned his back on a verbal agreement.
While blaming someone for doing what their heart desires is childish and inconsiderate. However, what DeAndre did to Dallas was in the nicest way possible was; cowardly. He made a promise, a verbal agreement just five short days ago that he was all in to be “the man”. Now he will never be “the man” with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin; with the Clippers he is simply a contributor.
The way he left Dallas was so frustrating because of his fun and very entertaining play style you can’t help but enjoy watching him play. But, after what he did to Dallas, not just because he left them; but because he did it in a way that left Dallas with nothing. He is now the most hated man in Dallas. He will, for the rest of his career, hear boos from Mavs fans who will remember this day of betrayal. This hurts even more, now that reports say that DeAndre didn’t even give Cuban and Parsons a chance to talk to him. He simply barricaded himself in his house doing childish things instead of being a man and going face-to-face with people that he promised and hearing out what they had to say. At least give them a chance, if you still feel that you made a mistake by promising too soon when really you didn’t know what you wanted to do, then look them in the eye and say sorry. He wasted the time and energy and sent an entire franchise spiraling down to a place that it hasn’t been in 15 years. The Maverick faithful will have the date circled when the Clippers come into town next.
While the Clippers did what a lot of teams would have done, especially considering the talent in which the player posses, you just don’t do that to another organization. It’s an unwritten rule that once a verbal agreement is made you don’t waltz in and convince a player that they made a wrong decision. While reports say that DeAndre reached out to the Clippers, it still doesn’t make it right. If you really wanted to keep DeAndre, then why didn’t the Clippers roll out the red carpet two weeks ago? This overall makes the Clippers, NBA and especially DeAndre Jordan look really bad.
Just 2 day ago I wrote an article on the winners and losers of free-agency, well flip Mavericks and the Clippers and the list stays the same. The Clippers regain a powerful post player that they need and are now a favorite in the Western Conference. While the Clippers would still be competing for a playoff position without the DeAndre, the same can’t be said for the Mavericks. Unfortunately for Mavericks fans it looks like the rebuilding will begin earlier than expected. This team will have a very, very tough time making the playoffs especially in the mighty Western Conference.
The Mavericks next move is to simply move on. They can’t do much about it now that most free-agents that could help this team immediately are gone. The Mavericks are going to have to build around youth playing for the lottery and hoping that they a top 7 pick. The Rajon Rondo deal last year give the Mavs a protected top 7 pick meaning the Mavericks lose their pick unless it’s in the top 7. With the roster they have now there is no use in trying to fight for the playoffs. Go out there and compete but realize that you need to secure a spot in bottom 7 of the league. To all the MFFL (Mavs Fans For Life) this hurts and the next couple years are going to really suck, but only patient smart decision making is going to turn this franchise back around. The lone bright spot coming out of this whole ordeal is that the Mavericks are going to have loads of cap-space next summer. With a very old team, the interest in Dallas may not be great, but with a ton a cap room they could wheel and deal to where they could bring in some young talented players and speed up the rebuilding process.
Lastly, because this needs to happen and it has more of a chance now more than ever. We need to fix free-agency in the NBA. The whole verbal agreement thing apparently doesn’t work. It’s crazy to think that maybe free agents can sign from day 1. Why not? Why do we have to have a seven day period where a lot happens but nothing official, it really just doesn’t make any sense. Just, when free agency starts then it means that it really starts and players can sign.
