DeAndre Jordan to meet with Clippers, Mavericks, Lakers, Knicks

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

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With NBA free agency set to begin at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday, the Los Angeles Clippers are sailing closer and closer to treacherous waters.

DeAndre Jordan could be the difference in whether they sink or swim next season.

The 26-year-old free agent center who spent his first seven seasons with the Clippers is clearly giving serious thought to changing jerseys, as three people with knowledge of his situation said he is expected to meet with at least four teams — the Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks — in the first few days of free agency. The meetings are expected to take place in the Los Angeles office where Jordan's representatives, Dan Fegan and Happy Walters of Relativity Sports, are based. The people spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the process.

The Milwaukee Bucks have interest in Jordan, but a person with knowledge of their situation deemed the notion of landing Jordan "a long shot" and said it was unlikely they would meet with him. The Mavericks are expected to meet with Jordan on Wednesday, while the Knicks and Clippers are expected to meet with Jordan on Thursday. The timing of the Lakers meeting is unclear.

Jordan said all along that he was going to test these free agency waters, telling USA TODAY Sports in mid-March that this is the way it would go. He is hopeful to make a decision by July 3 or 4.

"I mean I've obviously been (in Los Angeles) seven years, and the past two have been great," he said then. "Doc (Clippers coach Doc Rivers) has been my biggest supporter and the best coach I've ever had. The team is great. The guys are good. We have great camaraderie. But the free agency process is definitely going to be a fun one."

"I want to experience it, to see what it's like, because before (in 2011) I was (a) restricted (free agent) so I just kind of had to wait it out. But I definitely want to experience it. I'm happy being a Clipper, I love it here. I've been here seven years, so this is definitely what I'm used to."

From Doc on down, they're certainly hoping he sticks with the status quo.

Rivers has made it clear that the Clippers will be offering Jordan a five-year maximum-salary deal that would be worth $109 million combined. Yet while other teams can only offer the maximum of a four-year deal worth approximately $81 million, the league-wide rumblings have grown louder that Jordan might want a chance to shine in a different landscape.

He's the third fiddle of sorts with the Clippers, the dominant defensive presence whose reaps the offensive benefits of playing with talented passers like Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. In terms of collective success, there's not much to complain about: the Clippers, who fell to the Houston Rockets in the second round last month after downing the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round, have become perennial playoff contenders.

On the individual front, Jordan was a third-team All-NBA selection last season and All-Defensive first team but has never been an All-Star. He averaged 11.5 points last season while leading the league in field-goal percentage (his 71% was just shy of Wilt Chamberlain's league record of 72.7%), and also led the league in rebounding (15 per game, with the Detroit Pistons' Andre Drummond a distant second place at 13.5 rebounds per game).

If Jordan is determined to opt for a change in scenery — be it in his home state of Texas (he grew up in Houston and attended Texas A&M), in another jersey in Los Angeles or perhaps in the Big Apple — the Clippers will be in quite the conundrum. Without Jordan, they have approximately $61 million in committed salary for next season and face a salary cap that's expected to be $68 million. The bottom line, then, is that there's simply no way of replacing Jordan with a similar type of talent if he signs elsewhere.

The Mavericks are seen by some as the greatest threat to convince Jordan to leave Los Angeles, but it remains to be seen how their free agency fortunes unfold. As is the case with the Lakers and Knicks, they also have serious interest in Portland Trailblazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge.

Follow Sam Amick on Twitter @sam_amick.

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