Report: Warriors send offer to Jordan
By Ramona Shelburne
The Golden State Warriors will reportedly sign Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan to four-year, $40 million offer sheet on Sunday, according to a report from CSNBayArea.com.
Jordan is a restricted free agent, meaning the Clippers will have three days to match the offer sheet or lose the talented 23-year-old who averaged 7.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks last season.
Clippers general manager Neil Olshey has said that retaining Jordan -- who is close friends with superstar forward Blake Griffin -- is a priority for the organization.
"We're committed to the core group we have," Olshey told ESPNLosAngeles.com last week. "We've been building slowly and we're in a great position to capitalize on that now with our cap flexibility. But we know that our existing players are a priority."
Olshey executed one of his top priorities this offseason when he signed free agent small forward Caron Butler to a three-year, $24 million contract on Friday.
Retaining Jordan and coming to an agreement on a four-year extension for fourth-year guard Eric Gordon are the others.
While the Clippers were prepared to re-sign Jordan to a five-year contract at about the same annual value Golden State will offer him, it'll be a much harder decision on whether they can make a $10 million a year commitment to a player who is still developing his offensive game and only became a consistent player in their rotation last season.
"I'm confident," Griffin said earlier this week when asked if he thought Jordan would return. "I think that's somewhat of a main thing for us, as Neil has said. But as a friend of DJs I think he needs to do what's best for him. I think he thinks this might be, and I think we feel the same way."
