In a bizarre turn of events, the Los Angeles Clippers vaulted back to contention in retaining the service of DeAndre Jordan just few days after the All-NBA center agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.
While Jordan is having a change of heart and now reportedly leaning towards re-signing with the Clippers, ESPN's Michael Eaves revealed in his recent post on Twitter that the big man's camp demanded the Clips front-office to trade Chris Paul in order for them to have a legitimate shot at keeping him.
"Source also tells me that Fegan made an ultimatum to Doc prior to agreement w/ Mavs that LAC would have to trade CP3 to keep DJ," according to Eaves.
Eaves tweets further validated the reports about Jordan's primary reason why he picked the Mavericks over the Clippers last week. CBS Sports NBA insider Ken Berger claimed he was told by a source close to Jordan that one of the big reasons behind his decision to leave the Clippers is his demonstrably poor relationship with the Paul.
"On one hand, there was Jordan's relationship with Clippers All-Star Chris Paul, which sources told CBSSports.com was demonstrably poor. These things are never one man's fault, but they believe that Jordan's relationship with the man who got him the ball in LA played a role here," Berger stated.
However, from the moment the attention was no longer on him, Jordan started to have second thoughts on his decision to join the Mavs with Eaves reporting about the center's text message to Doc Rivers, saying he made a mistake.
According to ESPN reporter, it would take a long and bumpy road for Rivers to repair the relationship between Paul and Jordan, if they eventually get the All-NBA and All-Defensive team center.
Jordan entered the free-agency season as one of the most coveted big men on the market after averaging 11.5 points, 15.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. The center drew offers from multiple teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, but it all boiled down between the Clippers and the Mavs at the end.