therealbig3 wrote:Zach Lowe on Deandre Jordan:What does DeAndre Jordan do here, exactly?
Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant coercing the Nets into signing Jordan to a four-year, $40 million deal was an underrated free-agency side plot. Opponents have outscored the Nets by 13.4 points per 100 possessions with Jordan on the floor, per NBA.com. That number flips to almost its photo negative -- plus-12 -- when Jarrett Allen replaces him.
As Dallas and New York witnessed last season, Jordan just doesn't do anything on defense beyond being large and near the basket. He's basically a boulder with arms. That has value! He munches rebounds. The Nets give up fewer shots at the rim with Jordan on the floor. That has been the case with every Jordan team since his rookie season. Some players see a tall person and stop in their tracks.
The ones who keep going? They're shooting 12 percentage points higher on shots within the restricted area against Brooklyn with Jordan on the floor, per Cleaning The Glass. He's challenging only 3.3 such shots per game, even fewer than Jokic. He's a solid post defender, but the few good post-up centers left aren't afraid of him; Domantas Sabonis punked Jordan for a dunk on the first Pacers possession of their win in Brooklyn last week, and ate Jordan's lunch the rest of the game.
If the Nets had a basketball justification for signing Jordan, it was to defend bangers who overpower Allen. If he can't do that, how much value does he have?
Jordan doesn't catch as many lobs as he used to. He's even off to an icy start at the line after remaking himself into a decent foul shooter.
Brooklyn needs much more from its other free-agent acquisition.
I think DJ still is a rotation piece just based on his size alone but Claxton has made it clear that he warrants minutes. I think match ups will decide our rotation at center going forward.
