UPDATE:
To clear up some confusion I've bumped the original article and earlier updates below the jump, and we'll keep you posted on the latest on Jordan here on the front page.
DeAndre Jordan has signed a 4 year, $43 million offer sheet with Golden State, agent Greg Lawrence tells Y!
Adrian Wojnarowski via Twitter
Looks like it's a done deal. Now we sit and wait to see what the Clippers will do. They will have three days to match if they so choose.
Earlier Updates:
To clear up some confusion I've bumped the original article and earlier updates below the jump, and we'll keep you posted on the latest on Jordan here on the front page.
Warriors have amnestied Charlie Bell and rescinded qualifying offer to Reggie Williams, clearing room for DeAndre Jordan offer sheet.
Looks like we should see news on the offer sheet very soon.
Clippers still haven't seen offer sheet for RFA C DeAndre Jordan, but expected to late afternoon. The 4yr offer is in the $42 million range.
Yahoo's Marc Spears via Twitter
So it looks like the Warriors still intend to sign Jordan to an offer sheet this afternoon. The rumored price has gone up though, now expected to be at $42mil. Will this be enough to keep the Clippers from matching, or will it be inconsequential?
The Los Angeles Clippers plan to match the Golden State Warriors' offer sheet of four years and $40 million for center DeAndre Jordan, a league source said, a move that will practically force starting center Chris Kaman to seek a trade elsewhere, according to a second source.
Possible Ws could put Jordan offer sheet on hold to get back in for CPaul. It's risky & means Klay Thompson, J.Tyler remain off court.
So it would seem that the Warriors have not yet signed Jordan to an offer sheet. As Matt reported last night, they have to wait for Lin to clear waivers some time today, and this morning he's reporting that they may put the offer on hold anyway. The Clippers wasted no time signaling through the media that they would match the Warriors rumored offer, but it's still not clear if this was a bluff to get the Warriors to shift their focus elsewhere or if they truly intend to match. We'll keep you posted as details emerge.
Original Article:
It's been clear for the last 24 hours that the Warriors have been maneuvering to find a way to offer DeAndre Jordan enough to sign him to an offer sheet, so it should be no surprise that Matt Steinmetz is reporting tonight that the Warriors will in fact sign Jordan to a 4yr $40mil offer sheet.
Warriors to sign DeAndre Jordan to 4-year, $40 million offer sheet Sunday. No Biedrins amnesty to do it. http://bit.ly/t4OBTN
Matt notes that they found a way to do it without using the amnesty on Andris, which would be a huge gamble considering the Clippers will have three days to match the offer, and with Andris gone they could find themselves without a center on the roster come Wednesday. Unfortunately it looks like in order to create the space necessary to make the offer the Warriors will likely have to use the amnesty on Charlie Bell. This isn't unfortunate because we'd be losing Bell, but because it would be quite a waste to use the amnesty on a rather small expiring contract, especially if we end up losing out on Jordan. One other downside to the situation is that it seems the Warriors may have to hold their rookies out of practice until a decision is made on Jordan, because they will need every bit of cap space they have to field the offer to Jordan. The difference between the cap hold for rookies and the actual signing amount is pretty slim, so that should give you an idea of what kind of margins the Warriors are working with to make this offer.
So far there haven't been any reports as to whether the Clippers are expected to match the offer. My gut, and the fact that Jordan and Blake Griffin are close friends, tells me that they probably will. Or I should say it did until a few minutes ago, when reports started showing up that the Clippers were back in the hunt for Chris Paul. Without any further details, I can't say for sure whether this makes it more or less likely, but it is certainly a game changer for the franchise. We'll have to watch closely to see who the Clippers are offering for Paul, and how that might affect their desire, or ability to match a deal this size.
I haven't been a big fan of the idea of signing Jordan to a $10mil per year deal to this point. He's long and athletic, with all the raw tools to be a very capable center in this league, but has always struck me as a player that loses focus on both ends, and can get a step behind the action on the court mentally. Of course at only 23 years old there is still plenty of room for improvement when it comes to basketball IQ and on court discipline. He's already shown that he can be incredibly efficient on offense, and he could be on the cusp of making that jump that puts him in the conversation with the better centers in the league. The Warriors have promised a bold move, and taking a gamble on a young developing big by offering a long-term, big-money contract is definitely a bold move. Whether it pays off, and whether Jordan ever even plays a game in a Warriors jersey, still remains to be seen.