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DeAndre Jordan talks free agency, playoff lessons and Batman in Q&A

SI: Hasn’t the world waited long enough for DeAndre Jordan in the Dunk Contest?

DJ: I always think about the Dunk Contest. I want to be a Dunk Contest champion sometime in my career. But I’ve always told myself that I don’t want to do it until I am an All-Star. No disrespect to the Dunk Contest, that’s just a personal goal I set for myself. My family, my brothers have all told me, "You need to do it. It would be fun. You would win it." It’s just something about that deal I made with myself. If that time happens, I’m in.

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SI: The All-Star Game rewards scorers, right? Do you feel like you have untapped potential in that area?

DJ: Yeah, but we have five guys on our team who could average 20-25 [points] if they wanted to. Blake, [Chris Paul], Jamal [Crawford], J.J. [Redick] has been a high scorer in our league. My role on our team isn’t to get us 18 a night. Would I like to? Hell yeah. Who wouldn’t? But that’s not why I’m on this team to help us win. That’s not what I’m supposed to be doing.

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SI: This next contract that you sign could carry you until you’re 30. Where do you want your game to be at that point of your career?

DJ: I want to be a better player. I want to be more rounded. Defense and rebounding is something that I’m known for. When you get older, you want to expand your game, become an offensive player and threat for your team. Whenever and however old I am, whenever [my contract is] up again, I want to be more of a threat offensively for the team that I’m playing for.

Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated

SI: The salary cap is expected to jump significantly in 2016-17. Some players are considering shorter deals this summer so they can maximize their earnings with the new cap in mind. Does that idea enter your thought process?

DJ: I don’t think about it in that way. Like, "I should only sign a one-year deal." I don’t want to a free agent [over and over]. All of this stuff could be taken away in one second [with an injury]. When you have the opportunity, I feel like you need to do it, get it done, get it over with, so it’s not another year [of the same]. People say they don’t think about it, but in the back of your mind, you kind of think about it. I’d rather not stress two summers in a row.

[Owner] Steve Ballmer, he’s been great. I have faith in Steve and Doc. Whatever we talk about when free agency comes, I feel like it will be good. Hopefully we’ll both do the right thing.

It’s going to be a good summer. It’s going to be fun. I’m not going to be stressing myself out about it. I’m going to see what happens. What happens, happens. I’ll love it wherever I’m at.