Clippers' Jordan makes preparing himself mentally and physically his business

[mkwest]

"I don't think they know, but that's one thing I don't really need them to. I know what I do and people around me know how hard I work," Jordan said. "It's not only on the court but off the court studying game film and studying players and play-sets and things like that. I know how much time I put into it.

"I look for any advantage I can get and working on my body is what I do. A lot of stuff is preventive. Anything I can do to help myself, that's something I'll do."

But that work is starting to pay off for Jordan. He's making a career-best 61.5% of his free throws. Perhaps more impressive, he's making 68.8% of his free throws after an intentional foul has led to free throws.

"There were definitely days I was extremely frustrated and those were the days I felt I got better because I had to get over the hump," Jordan said. "Some days I would go in there and make a ton of them and it would be easy. But the days they were hard and I was pissed off, those were the days that I feel like I got better."

"I want to be here. I don't want it to be based on the one-year option that I have," Jordan said. "Hopefully there will be an offer that we both can agree on and hopefully I'll be here. But we'll figure that out when the time comes."

Brad Turner, LA Times

[Ranma]

It's funny that DJ is finally showing progress in his free-throw shooting once it affected his playing time and accompanying earning power. Now he's making it a priority to be mentally tough during his contract year when he's been a mental midget throughout his career. I'm guessing thanks to his agent and the conversations his agent has had with NBA teams, DJ realizes that his value and price tag is declining around the league.

I'm sure there will be teams interested in his services but his value and production are tied directly to his physical ability to stay healthy. I strongly suspect his newfound professionalism and hard work in preparations will take a sharp decline along with his production once he gets his next big contract.

Jerry West should know better and, based on his comments during the press conference for re-signing Lou Williams, the Logo does. DJ will have to take a significant paycut to return to the Clippers and I'm sure he'll go to the highest bidder without much heartache from the organization. DJ knows how lucky he has been to be a Clipper and is proactively trying to drum interest in fans to somehow pressure the organization into giving him a long-term deal at premium price.

[Ranma]

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[esqtvd]

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The Clippers could negotiate a Jordan re-signing at a more team-friendly price, too – one that benefits both player and club. Instead of paying him $24.1 million next year, they could agree to a three-year deal in the $45 million to $50 million range.

Sure, but DJ would get a lot of interest all over the league at that price. He might as well go to a contender.

[esqtvd]

Hm.

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