On Friday afternoon, DeAndre Jordan announced that he has agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks on a four-year, $80 million deal, leaving the Los Angeles Clippers after seven seasons.

Jordan’s departure, first and foremost, leaves an enormous gap at the center position for the Clippers, who also traded their backup center Spencer Hawes before the start of free agency to the Charlotte Hornets.

Secondly, the Clippers lost their defensive anchor and best rebounder. Jordan recorded a career and league-high 15.0 rebounds per game this past season to go along with 2.2 blocks.

Lastly, Jordan’s athleticism at 6-foot-11, 265 pounds is unmatchable. It was his athleticism that complimented Blake Griffin really well in the frontcourt. His insane jumping ability made life easier for Chris Paul, who would toss the ball near the rim with the expectancy of Jordan to follow up with a thunderous dunk.

All that is lost, but the Clippers have plenty of options in free agency to choose from. Unfortunately, none of the available players could ever compensate for Jordan’s lost, but to at least fill out their center position, Los Angeles needs to work fast.

The first choice they have is Roy Hibbert in a possible trade. Hibbert is owed $15.5 million for the upcoming season, and the Indiana Pacers are willing to trade the big man to clear cap space. Sadly, the Clippers will need to give up one or two of their major pieces to obtain Hibbert since they don’t have the cap space to execute a salary dump for Indiana.

In any possible trade, L.A. may have to include J.J. Redick at the very least. This makes swapping for Hibbert complicated since the Clippers would be hesitant to trade their sharpshooter, but the 7-foot-2 big man is the closest player to Jordan on the defensive side.

Another option could be Kosta Koufos, who would come at a very inexpensive price. The Memphis Grizzlies are reportedly open to a sign-and-trade involving the big man. To acquire Koufos, the Clippers can either use part of their mid-level exception or complete a sign-and-trade as suggested. Trading for Koufos wouldn’t require much, possibly C.J. Wilcox and a second-round pick. That way, the Clippers could still maintain their partial mid-level exception to chase another big.

Amar’e Stoudemire is another viable option. However, he is an extremely undersized big man who is a defensive liability. Jordan Hill could be a fantastic replacement, but again a sign-and-trade may have to take place with the Los Angeles Lakers to make this work.

Other affordable defensive centers the Clippers should consider are JaVale McGee, Samuel Dalembert, and Cole Aldrich.

Ultimately, the Clippers could play small-ball by shifting Blake Griffin to the center position. The NBA has changed into a league with very little center use, so this move may not hurt L.A. too severely.

In the end, it’s not going to be easy for the Clippers to fill in DeAndre Jordan’s void. The center led the league in total rebounds, was second in offensive rebounds, and third in total blocks. To put that into perspective, Jordan accounted for 35% of his team’s total rebounds, 45% of the team’s blocked shots, and 51% of the offensive rebounds.

Nonetheless, the Clippers need answers at the center position…fast.

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.