Pincus: DeAndre Jordan Emerging as a Force

Post #1 » by **mkwest** » Fri Jan 7, 2011 10:45 pm

"He's getting a great opportunity with our injury situation and tonight [against the Nuggets] was one of his more solid games of the season for us against a very big, strong front line," continued Del Negro. "DeAndre is still a very young player in this league. He has a lot of growing to do but that's the exciting part of it for me anyway as the coach, because I see a lot of areas where he can improve."

Nuggets Coach George Karl was impressed by DeAndre's performance.

"We had shots blocked. We had too many tough shots. We let their interior defense affect us," said Karl. "Jordan did a great job. We showed them Jordan on film today but this was the first time they saw him playing well."

"I knew it would click just with time and getting out there on the court and some action. My rookie year, everything was just so fast. Last year it slowed down a little bit. This year it's slowed down tremendously and it's gotten a lot easier," said DJ. "It's the time. Getting minutes out there. Everything slows down - kind of know where to go, the rotations. You just have a feel for the game - it's a lot better."

"I'm glad I'm getting the chance. We're hoping that Chris Kaman gets back soon," said Jordan. "In the meantime, I'm just going to take advantage of the minutes I'm getting and try to get better."

Eric Pincus, HoopsWorld

kombayn · Post #2 » by **kombayn** » Sat Jan 8, 2011 12:28 am

It's time to trade Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, especially if we can get expiring contracts. We would be in the driver seat for next year.

mattfish · Post #3 » by **mattfish** » Sat Jan 8, 2011 2:11 am

I hope DJ keeps the starting job... then when Blake, EJ and DJ hit the bench for rest or foul trouble, we can run the offense through Kaman. Our problem has been when Griffin goes to the bench, the offense stalls and nobody knows what to do. If Kaman can come in during those times, we can at least have some form of defense running through him like last season. If VDN does it right, we could have a really strong team when Kaman comes back.

Post #4 » by **Foshan** » Sat Jan 8, 2011 5:45 am

Whats the max $$ Jordan can get next off season? He's unrestricted right? Are you guys worried he's going to get a big offer and go somewhere else?

(ps, not trying to be assenine or pick a fight or say he'll come to 'my' team. Just looking for some info)

mj_shoefanatic · Post #5 » by **mj_shoefanatic** » Sat Jan 8, 2011 4:20 pm

DJ's emergence proves once again that Kaveboy is useless.

Forte IV · Post #6 » by **Forte IV** » Sat Jan 8, 2011 7:50 pm

Foshan wrote:Whats the max $$ Jordan can get next off season? He's unrestricted right? Are you guys worried he's going to get a big offer and go somewhere else?

(ps, not trying to be assenine or pick a fight or say he'll come to 'my' team. Just looking for some info)

He is a restricted free agent.

Post #7 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Sat Jan 8, 2011 10:05 pm

I'm really pleased with how DJ has been playing, with each game I can see him continue to play better.

Post #8 » by **mkwest** » Sun Jan 9, 2011 12:01 am

Foshan wrote:Whats the max $$ Jordan can get next off season? He's unrestricted right? Are you guys worried he's going to get a big offer and go somewhere else?

(ps, not trying to be assenine or pick a fight or say he'll come to 'my' team. Just looking for some info)

The FO has considered him the center of the future for awhile. Progress was moving along slowly, but he's really picked up his activity as of late. It's not just the numbers, but his awareness on the defensive end has vastly improved. He says that the game has slowed down for him and it is visible.

Sterling said at media day that he would have traded him for a 1st round pick, but would let the GM's make the final call. I think that his mind has probably changed since then. There are a few teams (OKC, Nets, Minny, Knicks?, Houston?, etc.) that need a center that will have cap space depending on what they do with their own free-agents and if they make any moves before the deadline. With him being restricted, the ball is pretty much in our court. Hopefully, it will go smoothly.

Leor_77 · Post #9 » by **Leor_77** » Sun Jan 9, 2011 7:22 am

Eric Pincus = "Mr. Obvious"

DetroitEWarren · Post #10 » by **DetroitEWarren** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:27 am

kombayn wrote:It's time to trade Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, especially if we can get expiring contracts. We would be in the driver seat for next year.

Dawg, have you watched any games or are you just an ESPN Clippers fan, I gotta cringe everytime I see somebody talking about trading Baron, if you have not boticed, every since Baron came back and
has proven to still be an elite playmaker the Clippers have been a COMPLETELY different team, getting rid of Baron would be by far the dumbest move this team can possibly make right now. Have you noticed the instant chemistry between Baron and Blake, you cant just create chemistry between a guard and a big, they had that shyt naturally as soon as Baron returned, why kill what they have going right now.

You mean to tell me that you can replace a elite veteren playmaker with the ability to find Griffin or Jordan or Gordan everytime down the court, are you crazy, lol. Next, then to Blakes dominance Baron is by far the 2nd most important piece to the winning version of this team, without him, they were not winning, Blake was still dominant but the Clippers could not control the game, Baron is a game manager, if you are not getting CP3, D Will, or Nash then you would be a damn fool to move Baron, real talk. How his effect on turning this team to a team who won 7 of the last 10 gets ignored, I cant understand that shyt, smh.

Draft Master J · Post #11 » by **Draft Master J** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:17 am

Does Jordan have the quickness and agility to play power forward?

madmaxmedia · Post #12 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 12:13 am

DetroitEWarren wrote:
kombayn wrote:It's time to trade Baron Davis and Chris Kaman, especially if we can get expiring contracts. We would be in the driver seat for next year.

Dawg, have you watched any games or are you just an ESPN Clippers fan, I gotta cringe everytime I see somebody talking about trading Baron, if you have not boticed, every since Baron came back and
has proven to still be an elite playmaker the Clippers have been a COMPLETELY different team, getting rid of Baron would be by far the dumbest move this team can possibly make right now. Have you noticed the instant chemistry between Baron and Blake, you cant just create chemistry between a guard and a big, they had that shyt naturally as soon as Baron returned, why kill what they have going right now.

Yeah, there's really no reason to trade Baron since he has no trade value. At best you'd get back an even more overpaid player with a year less on his contract I guess. Clippers just aren't big FA market players anyway.

And yeah, Baron is playing well and helping our Blake/EJ tandem and the team overall.

supfoo · Post #13 » by **supfoo** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:53 am

Foshan wrote:Whats the max $$ Jordan can get next off season? He's unrestricted right? Are you guys worried he's going to get a big offer and go somewhere else?

(ps, not trying to be assenine or pick a fight or say he'll come to 'my' team. Just looking for some info)

he's restricted, so i'm guessing sterling will wait for the market to set a price tag on him. it's not out of the question that he commands a 10 million/year type of deal if he keeps up his play. he's been playing extraordinarily well if you can ignore his free throwing percentage. his weakside help defense is elite. yes, elite. i thought he would be a solid 20 minutes-off-the-bench guy but he's exceeded all of my expectations.

i mean, except the free throwing shooting.

ExplosionsInDaSky · Post #14 » by **ExplosionsInDaSky** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:58 am

Philly fan here... Just wondering.. Is there a chance he gets traded? I would hate to see him leave LA for any other team than my Sixers. Mainly because I think he's a great compliment to Blake Griffing. I do imagine that if any big does get traded it would in fact be Chris Kaman, no?
Like I said.. Just curious about his availability. With Sterling you just never know.

Det the Threat · Post #15 » by **Det the Threat** » Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:36 am

ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:Philly fan here... Just wondering.. Is there a chance he gets traded? I would hate to see him leave LA for any other team than my Sixers. Mainly because I think he's a great compliment to Blake Griffing. I do imagine that if any big does get traded it would in fact be Chris Kaman, no?
Like I said.. Just curious about his availability. With Sterling you just never know.

DJ's playing very well and finally seems to understand what it takes to succeed in this league.
He's also playing very well alongside Blake, because he's exactly what we need next to him(a weakside defender who rebounds very well and changes shots) and that makes our frontcourt pretty special.

So we're surely not looking to trade him and will try to keep him longterm.
I agree what was said above, in that we'll most likely wait what the market is for him, wait what the new CBA will look like and might even let him sign an offer sheet with another team, just to match it.
I mean, just handing out whatever to keep him would be bad business, as we'd be bitting against ourselves.

BTW: Kaman could be available, but I doubt he gets traded during the season, as we'll most likely still want to see a three man rotation of DJ, Griffin and Kaman, while also trying to upgrade Kaman's trade value.