The Nets and DeAndre Jordan are working toward parting ways via a potential contract buyout, according to Shams Charania and Alex Schiffer of The Athletic.
While Charania cautions that the two sides haven’t made any final decisions, he says the veteran center is “increasingly unlikely” to remain in Brooklyn going forward. Schiffer conveyed a similar sentiment last week. A buyout appears to be a more likely outcome than a trade, since the Nets would have to attach an asset or two to unload Jordan’s contract to another team.
Jordan joined the Nets at the same time Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did, signing as a free agent during the 2019 offseason. He received a four-year contract worth approximately $40MM at that time. However, while Durant has signed a new extension with Brooklyn and the team is working to extend Irving too, the big man’s days with the franchise appear numbered.
Jordan did start 43 games in 2020/21, but his 21.9 minutes per contest represented his lowest mark since the 2009/10 season. He fell out of the rotation altogether late in the season and didn’t play a single minute in the postseason.
Jordan still has two years and $19.7MM left on his deal with the Nets — it’s unclear how much money he’d be willing to give back in a buyout. He’d likely draw interest from other teams in need of frontcourt help if Brooklyn lets him go, though probably not for more than the veteran’s minimum.
Sources tell Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that the Lakers are one potential suitor to watch if Jordan becomes a free agent, echoing an earlier report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Lakers are interested these players?
Rondo
Love
Jordan
Millsap
Redick
They only have room for 15 players so something has gotta give…..
Lakers are playing nba 2k14
The buyout system needs to be burned to the ground and buried about 100 feet deep. Overall the NBA’s system works nicely as a fair, player-friendly way to distribute talent around to big and small markets. Hell we just had one of the smallest markets in professional sports win a title last year. But the “pay three superstars as much as you can and wait until buyout vets come calling” team building strategy available only to the L.A. and NYC teams (occasionally Miami) is just dumb and counter-competitive. There’s no reason for it. If a guy wants to leave and negotiates a buy out from his team, he should be available to teams at the vet minimum in reverse order of the standings, like a waiver claim in baseball.
Not that DeAndre means anything himself. He’s toast. But I hate this system in general.
I like that idea.
I disagree. The player is giving up money and “buying himself out of the contract”, why shouldn’t he be able to choose where he wants to go? The team has no obligation to accept less compensation and allow him out of the contract and ANY team can trade for them if they want him. LA and New York get many bought out players but it’s usually competitive teams that acquire buy outs or desired destinations and that’s just how the world works, no one wants to move to Indiana or Sacramento.
Xactly, whats the point of getting a buy out just to be taken by a team you didn’t choose?
Then don’t take the buyout. No one is forcing them to give up money.
Correct, the suggested edit to the buyout market would essentially end the buyout market. The BUY portion of the buyout market refers to the PLAYER, which is what people seem to miss.
The player is buying his way to free agency, where he can choose to play where he wants.
The idea that any player would give up millions of dollars for the right NOT to choose where he plays next is nonsensical.
Because the NBA is built on being a competitive league. If certain teams are given a competitive advantage, then what is the point of even having franchises in Indiana or Sacramento or OKC or any of the other 15 franchises that have no chance? As long as they exist, they should have a fair chance to compete.
OK, but this argument is actually more applicable to free agency.
Because where does LA and NY have a greater competitive advantage – the free agent market or the buyout market?
In the former they get LeBron and Durant. In the latter they get Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin.
If the arguments against the buyout market are valid then we should abolish free agency as well.
But free agency at least has to follow the rules of the salary cap. The buyout market completely circumvents the salary cap. They are giving players getting paid medium to high salaries to BRK or LA for the cost of a minimum salary player. Getting LeBron in free agency costs the same to every team.
Teams buying out player still on hook for salary cap. They made bad decision to bad contract why should team signing them be punished?
I don’t have any problems with a buyout if it happens in the off season. That is a team admitting a mistake and trying to correct it. My problem is the in season buyout. That is just teams being allowed to load up for a postseason run without giving up any assets.
I love the buyout system. I also like the trading deadline and the offseason wheeling and dealing so maybe that’s why. I like change and like roster movement and trying to improve.
But with the buyout system you have a team that doesn’t want a guy. What’s wrong with giving him his money up front and tell him to take a hike? There’s nothing wrong with that. You owe him 10 million, you give him 8 and let him walk. I save 2 and he gets the 2 from his new team wherever he chooses.
The new team can put him to work…, the old team can’t utilize his skill or wants to play young guys or whatever the case is. I don’t see the problem it helps the old team, it helps the new team and it helps the player.
You don’t see guys like Damian Lillard or Steph Curry or Kevin Durant or Trae young or Luka doncic get bought out. It’s not like my playoff team is adding a super stud to throw in my top three dudes and away we go. These are usually older guys who are sliding down the slippery slope towards retirement and perhaps they can give a little something to a playoff team. No problem here. I don’t understand what’s not to like.
The problem is not with the original team buying the guy out and telling him to go. The problem is that a team like Indiana or Sacramento would have to trade for that guy and pay his full salary in order to add him to their team while a team like LA or Brooklyn can just wait and add him to their team at a much lower salary.
Why would team like Sacramento want a end of career guy. They have young talent to develop. Don’t see any lottery teams wanting a guy like Jordan ??
It’s not the big markets that are attracting the buyout players, it’s the team situations. If Lebron and AD played for Charlotte, players would want to sign there. Players want to play on winning teams.
You are forgetting that the big markets attract the big time free agents.
LeBron was not going to sign with Charlotte. Absolutely NO chance. He wouldn’t have even signed with Cleveland the second time if he wasn’t trying to rebuild his image after the “taking his talents to Miami” debacle.
AD is even worse. He demanded a trade to one franchise ONLY. He wasn’t going to play in Charlotte. If he leaves the Lakers and is still at the top of his game, I think you can effectively cross off 20 teams from the list of team he would go to.
@ehsheel
I agree, case in point, golden state went from loser to attracting talent when Curry and Klay started winning.
Giving up money to compete for a championship is admirable to most fans.
I wonder how agents feel about buyouts.
Golden State drafted Curry and Klay.
Exactly his point. Durrant would have never gone there if those two guys weren’t balling. Before they drafted those guys the Warriors stunk for over a decade.
You hate the system yet even you note that Jordan means nothing, that he’s washed up.
Which is ipso facto true of 99% of buyout candidates-if they weren’t entirely washed up, then they would be traded instead of bought out.
So even if the league employed the reverse waiver system you suggest the players bought out would still end up with a contending team, because the Cavaliers have no need for players like Jordan. It’s why they’re trying to buy out Love.
What really needs to be burnt to the ground is the half-*** analysis of the buyout system that plagues the comment section of this website.
I agree, but if the player wants out of his contract he should get exactly what ownership is getting…zero.
There would be a lot less moving.
Ownership is saving some money owed and open roster spot for young player. Player is not tradable. So why not just move on…
‘ team building strategy available only to the L.A. and NYC teams (occasionally Miami)’
As far as NYC goes, like who? Kemba Walker and Blake Griffin, but prior to them, who? This article is even about a player *leaving* NYC.
It’s not ‘L.A. and NYC teams’. It’s contenders. And these teams (Lakers, Clippers, Nets specifically) have been built into contenders because they’ve signed multiple high-end players via the free agency system, which is what a buyout returns a player to.
There’s almost no difference between regular free agency and free agency purchased by the player via a buyout (‘purchase’ in that they’re leaving money on the table to bolt). Players value two things: money and winning a championship. Location, like ‘L.A. and NYC’ isn’t really on the list.
LaMarcus Aldridge for one.
But they don’t leave money on the table. Not much anyway. Kemba Walker is still getting paid just a tiny bit less than what he would have gotten without a buyout except the Knicks cap is only getting charged for a fraction of the salary. Blake Griffin “gave back” $13MM of his $75MM with Detroit, but got $4.5MM of that salary back from Brooklyn. And even though he is making around $33MM this year, Brooklyn’s cap was only charged $776,000. That’s not fair.
Brooklyn didn’t give Blake huge contract, over paying him was Detroit’s problem. Nets only picked him up cause of price.
Deandre would be a perfect backup big for Vu. Just needs to bang and block shots. Obvi he is going to either Lakers or Miami. I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s Miami though. He would be perfect to spell Bam and still is productive.
Sidenote: Any news on Millsap? I really want him on the Bulls next year. Could be a Thad Young role once again with the mentor ship of the younger guys.
I thought DeAndre a good fit for Bulls as well, 15 min per game, situational.
He will go to Lakers, though.
No reason to feel bad for Jordan as he signed player friendly contract 2 yrs ago due to his friendship with KD and Irving. In fact, the 2 stars sacrificed a bit of their contract to get Nets to sign Jordan.
Player friendly? Really?
I like DJ and wish he could have fit into the switching system better, but it looks like this is inevitable if it’s clear Nash isn’t going to play him. The fairest deal to him would be to buy him out for what he’s owed minus the vet’s minimum for the next two seasons.
No reason to feel sorry for him simply because he signed a 3-4 yr contract at $10M a year to sit on the bench and do nothing
Yes, player friendly, really.
All we’re looking for is a system where big money teams can’t buy championships. This agreement we have now seems to allow this.
Yes, it doesn’t always work out, so maybe it’s better than it smells on the surface with complicated exceptions, so many & so galore. Hope so but today it looks like LA & Brooklyn bought their way into this year’s Finals.
Well that is a huge leap, especially with Lakers. They traded for Westbrook and his crazy contract. All the other vets were true free agents. Lakers have same cap rules as every other team.
Nets did get deal with Blake but they also took risk he would play as well as he did…
If Sacramento was 52-20 and sitting in the number 1 seed in the west, buyout players would want to go there to win a championship. (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence.)
Buckman you’re exactly right. People here are talking about the good teams, well then just become a good team !!!
Draft well, hire and spend money for good coaches and development guys. Improve your product start winning and guys will come. Yes LA has an advantage and so does New York City but guys with sign in Miami and guys will sign in San Francisco and guys will sign in Dallas.
My hard-a$$ statement is this:
“Quit whining and BECOME GOOD. Don’t whine about the others who ARE good.”
– Gary 8:30
Kind of hard to become good when other teams get all the damn players.
– Hiflew 4:20
Love it !!
New York has advantage?? Knicks never get anyone and have done nothing. Nets did get Durant but traded for Irving and harden with talent and draft picks they developed and acquired after being bad.
I don’t understand the Nets right now, they need a defensive big and Jordan is just that for them. Plus he’s been shooting high 50s, low 60s at the ft line which is much better than his Clippers days at the low to mid 40s. Idk who they’re gonna get to play down low bc if they can’t replace him then they’re just losing good defense and rebounding
You’re right for 10 years ago. Defense is different now they take advantage on offense of a slower Center who’s not as mobile. There’s a lot of switching and pick-and-rolls and outside shooting that DeAndre Jordan just can’t get to at this stage in his career. He’s a dinosaur.
As far as protecting the rim, sure he does that but as I said offense is different today. A guy will drive to the hole, DeAndre Jordan will come over and help for Rim protection, but then the driver kicks it out for the open three or to the cutter who is open. Thus DeAndre Jordan is rendered ineffective for the most part. It’s all about mobility and switching and covering more than one position today. Just my thoughts and observations.
He didn’t play one minute in playoffs.
DeAndre always gave the Lakers a hard time when he was with the Clippers. It would be strange to see him in a Lakers uniform and I’m not sure we need another big (AD, Dwight and Gasol) as much as we could use a shooter but I guess it could be worse