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Sources: DeAndre Jordan hires new reps with possible moves coming

After two years without an agent, LA Clippers All-Star center DeAndre Jordan has hired new representation with trade discussions and free agency on his immediate horizon. Jordan, 29, has signed with Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management, sources said, who will help navigate the processes expected to determine Jordan's future with the Clippers.

The hiring of an agent can be a facilitator for teams wondering whether Jordan would have interest in signing with them long term should they trade significant assets to the Clippers to acquire him. The Clippers offered Jordan a contract extension over the summer and haven't ruled out continuing to work on re-signing him, league sources said.

Nevertheless, Jordan is currently the organization's most valuable healthy trade asset and the Clippers are reaching a team-building crossroads that requires them to engage with inquiring teams to learn what is exactly Jordan's value on the trade market. Jordan is expected to opt out of the fourth year of the deal, worth $24 million in 2018-19, to become a free agent this summer.

Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN

The Bucks are looking more and more likely.

Yup, Schwartz is pretty much Kidd sales rep. The Bucks have been drafting (Maker, Vaughn, Inglis), trading for (Middleton, MCW, Teletovic, Beasley, Ennis, Vasquez) or signing (Bayless, Toupane) a lot of players from his agency. When Kidd was on the Nets, half of the team was represented by Schwartz and he was jokingly referred as their vice president for basketball operations by a lot of journalists.

Same agency also represents Blake though, so maybe it's just a tip from him. Bu it looks a bit like he hired him as a way for the Bucks to negotiate a possible extension if he gets traded there.

Anyway, it's a weird choice that he hires an agent so connected to a particular team, after all the fiasco with the Mavs and their little pet Fegan.

wow.... so much going on, all of a sudden it's become such a busy season! I do hope DeAndre will somehow survive all trade rumors and remain a Clipper!

I'm ok if DeAndre stays. We'll only keep him if we have a chance at winning and if he doesn't get too expensive since he'll be a free agent. I don't blame him if he wants max money but I don't want to give him that.

DJ needs an agent to put his ear to the ground out there to see if anyone's interested in maxxing or near-maxxing him. Hard to judge the market value of a 20th century big in the 21st century NBA, say, a Wes Unseld.

Honestly, I don't see how he gets even more than he's making right now on the open market. Who's exactly gonna offer him a $25M a year contract other than us? only team I can see is the Lakers once they strike out on all of the other big name free agents, and that's still a big if. They might get Cousins/George, or they might decide to roll on the capspace to next season before they give DJ a big deal (I would if I were them). Other than them, every team that can use him is gonna be capped out.

I don't think we can low ball him too heavily cause it'd create bad blood and would be bad for the team long term, but we should be trying to keep him at around $20M a year for 3 years if we don't get a good trade offer for him. And by good offer I mean a younger core player where we don't have to eat long term bad salary, not the crappy neutral value stuff other team's fans usually offer arguing some contrived thing about leverage.