The Warriors have four All-Stars, including two MVPs, a Defensive Player of the Year, and perhaps the two greatest shooters in NBA history. Golden State also has an excellent coach and other good players, including a Finals MVP, elsewhere on the roster. But is it enough? Is it ever enough? The New York Times’ Marc Stein reports that the Warriors will call upon free agent DeAndre Jordan when free agency begins at midnight. Jordan is a three-time All-NBA center who opted out of a $24 million deal for 2018-19 on Friday. To sign with the Warriors, he would need to take the mid-level exception available to teams in the luxury tax, which starts at just over $5 million per year. Needless to say, everyone would flip the heck out if the Warriors pulled this off. Sign up for the newsletter Good Morning It’s Basketball NBA news and links delivered to your inbox each weekday, so you never miss out. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email (required) By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. Subscribe The Warriors are already overpowered, as evident by their 16-1 run through the 2017 NBA playoffs and their 2018 dominance against every team but the Houston Rockets. Signing a player the caliber of Jordan — no longer an All-NBA type given the rise of other young pivots, but still really good — would eliminate the last hole in the Warriors’ lineup and give Steve Kerr even more options to use when the going (rarely) gets tough. This past season, the Warriors got by with Jordan Bell, Zaza Pachulia, Kevon Looney, and JaVale McGee at center. Bell has promise but was a rookie. Looney is pretty adept. McGee can be shockingly effective in tiny spurts. But Jordan is so far beyond these guys as a consistent defensive force, rebounder, and rim-runner that it’d be a major upgrade. (It’d also allow the Warriors to stop committing so many roster space to somewhat unreliable centers. Having a very good one cleans up the fear.) Jordan, by the way, does have a history with the Warriors. He’s close to Kevin Durant and, as Stein reminds us, Warriors GM Bob Myers used to be Jordan’s agent. (Before the Dallas hostage situation.) Jordan also happens to have signed a contract with the Warriors once before: in 2011, at the end of the lockout, the center agreed to a 4-year, $43 million offer sheet with Golden State. The Clippers smartly matched within a day. The Warriors, of course, went on to torture Jordan and the Clippers for years. If you can’t beat them ...<doc-sep>DeAndre Jordan opted out of his deal with the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, becoming a free agent. The Golden State Warriors are expected to gauge his interest in signing with them. Do the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors have a chance at signing high-level free agent big man, DeAndre Jordan? Probably not, but that won’t stop their aggressive front office from doing their due diligence in free agency, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times via Twitter. Per Stein’s report, the Dubs are certainly aware their chances of signing Jordan are slim compared to other teams in the league, but they will, at the very least, explore their options. While Jordan’s 12.0 points and 15.2 rebounds would, on paper, be a good fit for the Warriors as an athletic centerpiece when the team opts not to start small, the most the team could offer him financially is the $5.3 million mid-level exception. Such a move would require Jordan to take a deal starting at the taxpayer midlevel exception of $5.3 mil — which would cost the Warriors more like $27 mil next season. But it has been whispered around the Warriors for months that they will at least explore making a run at Jordan https://t.co/YMkABpbq3v — Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 30, 2018 Of course, the Warriors are expected to venture DEEP into luxury tax territory, where they would end up being taxed for every dollar over the line. According to Stein, using the mid-level exception on any player at all would result in the Warriors paying over $20 million extra next season. Nevertheless, finances have never been an issue since Joe Lacob and the current ownership group took the reins from Chris Cohan and company, so this report concerning Jordan comes to no surprise. The Warriors are but a step away from cementing themselves as the top-tier NBA dynasty after winning three out of the last four NBA championships, most recently joining the short list of franchises to ever win back-to-back titles. Now on the verge of a probable three-peat, the addition of DeAndre Jordan would put them over the top. If they weren’t the favorites for winning this upcoming season, signing Jordan would undoubtedly seal the deal. In addition, there’s also the fact that GSW general manager Bob Myers was once Jordan’s agent, and one of Jordan’s closest friends in the league is Kevin Durant. The connections are clearly there. Of course, there’s also the issue of where Golden State’s current frontcourt rotation fits into the equation, namely guys like Damian Jones and JaVale McGee. Jones will still likely make the step up to role player off the bench, but Golden State would unfortunately have to say goodbye to McGee. If Jordan does end up decided to leave MILLIONS of dollars on the table in the quest for the ring, however, I think it’s safe to say we can finally forgive the front office for using the amnesty clause on Charlie Bell all those many years ago. And as an added plus, how awesome would it be see one of Chris Paul‘s former teammates win a ring with Stephen Curry? Fingers crossed!<doc-sep>
Welcome to NBA free agency, when anything and everything is possible. Just hours after All-NBA center DeAndre Jordan opted out of his $24.1 million option with the Los Angeles Clippers to become a free agent, Marc Stein of The New York Times reported that the Golden State Warriors -- yes, those Golden State Warriors -- will try their luck at signing the big man. Jordan would have to take an astronomical pay cut to sign with Golden State, since their money is tied up largely in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the forthcoming new contract for Kevin Durant, but Stein says the Warriors are holding onto the slimmest bit of hope that Jordan will be willing to take significantly less money to play for the champions. As loaded as the Warriors lineup is, there's been a revolving door at center for the past two seasons after the departure of Andrew Bogut. With Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee and David West all free agents, Golden State has a gap to fill. Rebounding has long been one of the few weak spots for the Warriors, and Jordan would go a long way toward remedying that ailment (back before the Warriors were THE WARRIORS, Jordan signed an offer sheet with Golden State in 2011, which the Clippers matched). On the surface this seems pretty unlikely. Jordan just turned down $24.1 million, and, according to Stein, would have to take a salary with the Warriors starting at $5.3 million. Players repeatedly talk about how much they want to win titles, but that's a little extreme. Jordan is 30 years old with declining athleticism in an NBA where centers are already devalued. It's extremely hard to believe that he would be willing to fork over years and money, even if he is joining one of the best teams in NBA history. That being said, we simply cannot count anything out in this league. Stein says the Warriors understand they have a very small chance, but if we've learned one thing about the NBA over the past few years, it's this: Shoot your shot ... you never know what's going to happen.