DeAndre Jordan seems to have been knocked out of the Nets’ rotation by a pair of huge males plucked off the buyout market. However sources have instructed The Submit the Nets haven’t any intention of including the veteran middle to that buyout market.
“It’s by no means been mentioned,” mentioned a supply.
The deadline for gamers waived or purchased out to be eligible for the playoffs is 11:59 p.m. Friday. With Jordan having not performed in any of the final 4 video games — and having gone a dozen straight with out showing within the fourth quarter — there have been rumors that he and the Nets may have a look at a buyout. However a number of sources mentioned there have been no conversations on the matter.
“Nothing occurring there,” one other league instructed The Submit.
The Nets gained a muted buyout market by signing Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge, and so they’ve supplanted Jordan within the rotation. He’d arrived with friends Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, whereas Kenny Atkinson’s insistence on enjoying him behind Jarrett Allen is believed to have hastened the coach’s ouster.
However these are completely different instances in Brooklyn.
The Nets went all-in for a title chase in buying and selling Allen as a part of the bundle for James Harden. Jordan was up and down when he had the middle spot to himself by default, and the staff added first Griffin after which Aldridge.
Nic Claxton’s return from damage on Feb. 23 and the spectacular Alize Johnson have given them younger depth and flipped a weak point to a energy — and brought an enormous lower out of Jordan’s enjoying time.
Griffin has appeared significantly spry. He held Zion Williamson to 16 factors on 4 of 12 taking pictures, snapping the Pelicans star’s run of 25 straight video games topping 20 factors. Extra notably, he has 5 dunks in his seven video games, after having simply 5 in his final 49 tilts with Detroit. He hadn’t dunked since December 2019 earlier than coming to the Nets and seeming rejuvenated.
“From prime to backside this group does an unbelievable job of caring for their guys and pondering of every thing,” mentioned Griffin, including it’s affected him positively. “Simply having the ability to come right here and take a few weeks and get with the efficiency workers and work on the issues they needed me to work on was big.”
Johnson has performed 5 video games for the Nets, averaging 8.6 factors and 6.6 rebounds on 65.6 p.c taking pictures in quarter-hour. His second 10-day contract expires Saturday, and so they can’t ink him to a 3rd. They may give him a part of their taxpayer mid-level exception, signing him for the remainder of the season and even to a three-year deal.
“[Jordan’s] bought to remain prepared. Who is aware of when it could be? It could be Sunday. It could be in two weeks. However everybody’s bought to proceed to organize and keep prepared and see what occurs,” coach Steve Nash mentioned. “We’ve bought plenty of facilities. We’re going to work via it and see what our rotation goes to be come playoff time.”
