Rumor: Tyronn Lue enamored with trade for DeAndre Jordan

Quenton S. Albertie | Fansided

Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was the preferred trade deadline target for Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd, not only did Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James desire a trade for Los Angeles Clippers high-flying center but so too did Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue.

Per Lloyd (quote transcribed by Jack Maloney of CBS Sports):

Now, however, they can no longer say they’re “All-In.” They cannot say they did whatever they could to keep LeBron here this time. Doing whatever they could to keep him would’ve meant dealing for DeAndre Jordan at the trade deadline, the rim-protecting center Lue coveted and James equally wanted badly.

As Lloyd would mention in his piece, rather than trading for a dominant big man, the Cavaliers opted to trade for a group of young players that are supposed to form something of a core — centered around whatever player is acquired with the 8th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft — for the Cavs in the event James leaves.

For those that wonder why it was an either-or situation for the Cavs, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski detailed the events leading up to the Cavaliers trade deadline deals. Because trading for Jordan would have required a first-round pick, the trade that sent Isaiah Thomas and a first-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. made trading for Jordan — more or less — impossible.

It’s not too hard to see how Jordan could have been a difference-maker on both ends for the Cavaliers.

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