The L.A. Clippers announced today that they have re-signed center DeAndre Jordan and signed free agent forward Wes Johnson.

Jordan had unofficially agreed to leave the Clippers and sign with the Dallas Mavericks, but reneged on that and chose instead to remain with Los Angeles.

Jordan, 26, averaged a career-high 11.5 points and 15.0 rebounds in 82 games (all starts) for the Clippers last season. He led the NBA in rebounds and field goal percentage (.710), his field goal percentage was the second-highest single-season mark in NBA history (W. Chamberlain, ’72-73-.727). The 6-foot-11 center recorded an NBA-best 13 games with 20+ rebounds and set a Clippers franchise record with 1,226 rebounds in a season. Jordan became the sixth player in NBA history to average 15.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in season. He was named to the All-NBA Third Team and First Team All Defense last season, the first time in his career to achieve those honors.

Jordan led the NBA in field goal percentage and rebounds per game for both the 2013-14 (67.6% FG% and 13.6 rpg) and 2014-15 (71.0% FG% and 15.0 rpg) seasons. Only Jordan, Dwight Howard and Wilt Chamberlain have finished a season atop the league in both categories.

Originally drafted with the 35th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft out of Texas A&M, Jordan has appeared in 515 career games (413 starts) for the Clippers, averaging 8.0 points and 9.0 rebounds. The Houston native has appeared in 322 straight games, the longest current streak in the NBA.

Johnson, 27, averaged 9.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 76 games (59 starts) for the Los Angeles Lakers last season. The five-year NBA veteran brings career averages of 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 25.7 minutes in 349 games (269 starts) with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Lakers.

The Corsicana, Texas native was originally drafted by the Timberwolves with the 4th pick in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-7 Johnson played his first two years of collegiate basketball at Iowa State before transferring to Syracuse. In one season for the Orange he was named the Big East Player of the Year and a First Team All-American after averaging 16.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 35 games (all starts).

DeAndre Jordan reneges on agreement with Mavs, re-signs with Clippers

Here’s the Dallas Morning News reporting on a massively frustrating turn of events for the Mavericks:

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much and set up so many potential ramifications if it weren’t so tantalizingly close for the Mavericks.

Even if you have no love for owner Mark Cuban or his team, you have to admit it’s cruel and unusual the way they lost DeAndre Jordan.

He was poised to become the biggest free-agent acquisition in franchise history. It doesn’t come any closer than having a commitment in hand.

Then, after a hard-fought recruiting battle the likes of which even Michael Jordan never got, DeAndre Jordan on Wednesday evening switched his commitment from the Mavericks and returned to the Los Angeles Clippers, who announced that it was official on a social-media platform sent from the team’s account minutes after the moratorium on free-agent signings was lifted at 11:01 p.m. (CDT) Wednesday. The deal was four years for more than $87 million.

For now, we will assume DeAndre Jordan will still sign with the Mavericks

Here’s ESPN.com reporting something pretty surprising. Let’s see if this thing actually materializes:

The Los Angeles Clippers are trying to persuade DeAndre Jordan to reconsider his decision to sign with the Mavericks after Jordan verbally committed to join Dallas last week, according to league sources.

Free agents are traditionally considered off-limits once they strike a verbal agreement with a team during the NBA’s annual moratorium period. Sources, though, said Clippers president Doc Rivers and owner Steve Ballmer have scheduled a meeting Wednesday in Houston to make one last face-to-face pitch to Jordan in an attempt to persuade him to walk away from the four-year, $80-plus million max deal he committed to with the Mavericks and instead stay with L.A.

Now this is a big one. Center DeAndre Jordan, he of massive hops, free throw struggles and impressive defensive ability, is leaving the Los Angeles Clippers and joining the Dallas Mavericks. Nobody expected this. Jordan fits in well on the Clippers, catching lobs from Chris Paul and having limited responsibility on offense while being part of a winning squad. But the Mavs offered monster money, and big DeAndre is reportedly accepting it. Here’s the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog reporting:

Following a sluggish performance on the opening day of free agency, the Mavs rolled up their collective sleeves and have bounced back in a very big way.

First, early Friday morning, the Mavs convinced Portland Trail Blazers shooting guard Wesley Matthews to agree in principle to a four-year free agent contract. Then, on Friday afternoon the Mavs beat the odds again and secured a verbal agreement from Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who accepted a four-year, $81 million contract from the Mavs.

Thus, Jordan becomes the first marquee player – aka a big fish — from another team to sign a free agent contract with the Mavs in the team’s illustrious 35-year history.

Wooed aggressively by the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Clippers and Mavs, Jordan had narrowed his choices down to the Mavs and Clippers. And after mulling over what the Mavs and Clippers had to offer, Jordan decided he wanted to jump-start the rest of his career in Dallas.

The Los Angeles Clippers today announced their roster for the 2015 Southwest Airlines Pro Summer League in Orlando. For the first time, the Clippers will participate in the league from July 4 - 10 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

NBA TV will televise the Southwest Airlines Orlando Pro Summer League games.

For the full roster, click: Clippers summer league roster

Now this is the kind of signing that is worth paying attention to. A move where a really good team that has a realistic eye on the NBA championship adds a key veteran who could mean the difference in a tightly-contested playoff battle against another really good team. Paul Pierce to the Clippers. Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:

The Clippers gained a giant lure in their pursuit of DeAndre Jordan on Wednesday, agreeing to terms with Paul Pierce on a three-year, $10.5-million contract that will reunite the veteran small forward with Coach Doc Rivers.

Pierce and Rivers won an NBA title together with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and will almost surely try to pitch Jordan on their collective potential with the Clippers, who will get the last word in the bidding for the free-agent center Thursday.

The Clippers will sign the former Inglewood High star with their so-called mini-midlevel exception, their primary financial tool in free agency, and will likely slot him into the starting small forward spot vacated by Matt Barnes, who was traded last month.

Pierce, who turns 38 in October, is a 10-time All-Star who gives the Clippers some championship experience in their starting lineup and a clutch presence who hit a game-winning shot in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season for the Washington Wizards.

I support pretty much any free agent move that shakes things up in an interesting way. This gives us one more thing to look forward to next season.

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has traded the draft rights to Branden Dawson to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for cash considerations.

Dawson, 6-6, 225, was the 56th overall selection by New Orleans in the 2015 NBA Draft. The Michigan State product was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and Second-Team All-Big Ten as a Senior, averaging 11.9 points and 9.1 rebounds during the campaign.

Even if you don’t follow the D-League particularly closely, or at all, it’s still fun to know who the head coaches are, and which players truly shine in the league — especially since those players often wind up on an NBA roster, at least on a 10-day contract, if not more. Going back to that first thing, here’s the latest D-League coaching news:

The Los Angeles D-Fenders have named Conner Henry as head coach, it was announced today by team President/CEO Joey Buss and General Manager Nick Mazzella.

Henry returns to the D-Fenders after serving as an assistant coach for the team during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, before becoming the head coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants prior to the 2013-14 season. In his first year, Henry led the Mad Ants to a 34-16 regular season record, edging out the D-Fenders for the top seed in the NBA D-League Playoffs. Fort Wayne would then go 6-0 in the playoffs en route to an NBA D-League Championship. Henry was later named 2014 Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year by his D-League colleagues. Last season, the Mad Ants made a similar run, sweeping their first two playoff series before ultimately falling short in the D-League Finals to the Santa Cruz Warriors.

“We expect great things from Conner Henry,” said Buss. “We consider him to be the best coach in the league. His leadership is effective for winning and developing players, having earned a championship and development award in the last two seasons.”

“I’m looking forward to returning to Los Angeles and to the D-Fenders organization,” Henry said. “I would like to thank General Manager Nick Mazzella and the Buss family for having the faith to bring me home to pursue an NBA D-League Championship. Our coaches, players and management will have one goal in mind, and that’s for our team to compete nightly while representing the Lakers, D-Fenders and our fans.”

The D-Fenders set a single-season D-League record for wins when Henry was an assistant, tallying 38 wins in 2011-12 and making their first NBA D-League Finals appearance. After the 2012-13 season, Henry joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, amassing a 62-38 record in two seasons, winning the NBA D-League Championship in 2013-14 and falling just short in 2014-15. Henry served as head coach of the NBA D-League Select Team in the 2014 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, tallying a 3-3 record.

“Our goal is to cultivate players and staff for the Lakers and the NBA, while competing for a D-League Championship,” said Mazzella. “Conner has had great success over the past two seasons as a head coach in the D-League, and we are confident that with him at the helm these objectives will be met.”

Prior to his work in the NBA D-League, Henry spent four years in the Australian National Basketball League, serving as an assistant coach for the Perth Wildcats (2006-08), before becoming the head coach in 2008-09. Henry then joined the Sydney Kings as an assistant coach for the 2010-11 season, before returning stateside with the D-Fenders.

The 51-year old Henry enjoyed a lengthy professional career, including stints in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings from 1986-1988. Henry would also prosper in the CBA, as well as in the Italian, Spanish, French and Greek professional leagues. The Claremont, CA native attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and tallied 1,236 points in his four years. Henry was then selected by the Houston Rockets with the 19th pick of the fourth round in the 1986 NBA Draft.

Rockets complete comeback, eliminate Clippers in seven games

James Harden scored 31 points, Dwight Howard had 16 points and 15 rebounds and the Houston Rockets never trailed in a 113-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, sending them to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1997.

It’s the ninth time in NBA history that a team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win a playoff series.

The Rockets needed an epic comeback to overcome a 19-point third-quarter deficit and force Game 7. No such heroics were needed Sunday when they were up by 17 after three and Howard opened the fourth quarter with a 3-point play to push it to 88-68.

Blake Griffin scored five points in a 9-0 run to cut the lead to eight points with less than 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Harden made a pair of free throws after that, but a dunk by DeAndre Jordan got the Clippers within eight again. This time Trevor Ariza hit a 3 from the corner to secure the victory.

– Associated Press

The Clippers lead the Rockets 3 games to 2 in their second round playoff series. Tonight’s Game 6, in Los Angeles, is must-win for Houston. Here’s the Houston Chronicle reporting:

Rockets coach Kevin McHale said he would start forward Josh Smith again in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Smith started in Game 5 and forward Terrence Jones came off the bench.

“We just tried to change some things up, tried to get (Jones) with that second unit, maybe get him some more looks, get him going,” McHale said. “Josh is a very good passer. We gotta use another guy out there to break them down.”

DeAndre Jordan sets a free throw-related NBA record

If you watched yesterday’s Game 4 between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers, your main memory may be that of a tall dude standing still at a line while missing free throws. Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:

What a long, strange trip to the free-throw line for DeAndre Jordan. Again and again.

The Clippers center is now in the NBA record books, though not for a reason he’d ever envision, after taking 28 free-throw attempts in the first half of the Clippers’ playoff game Sunday.

The Houston Rockets kept fouling him intentionally, so Jordan kept going to the line, eventually passing Shaquille O’Neal’s 27 free-throw attempts for the Lakers against Portland in the second half of a 2000 playoff game.

“That’s crazy,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. “I’ve never witnessed that or experienced that. For us to just maintain our composure … we just grinded it out.”

All in all, Jordan made 14 of 34 free throws in the Clippers’ 128-95 victory over Houston in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Big babies sometimes fall down. It happens.

Los Angeles Clippers forward-center Glen Davis has been fined $5,000 by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-flopping rules during Game 3 of the Clippers’ Conference Semifinals series against the Houston Rockets.

The incident occurred with 1:09 remaining in the first quarter of the Clippers’ 124-99 victory over the Rockets last night at Staples Center.

To view the play, click on this link.

Matt Barnes fined for cursing at a fan

Los Angeles Clippers forward Matt Barnes has been fined $50,000 for directing inappropriate language at a fan, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.

The “fan,” it turned out, was the mother of Houston Rockets star James Harden.

According to the Houston Chronicle, “Barnes said today that he didn’t know it was Harden’s mother and that he has spoken with her twice since the incident. Barnes also said reports of what he said aren’t accurate. “We’ve spoken twice since the incident,” Barnes said. “She said something. I said something back. I spoke to her at halftime and after the game. “What I said was said, what she said was said. It doesn’t matter what was said, we both said something. “What’s crazy is fans can say anything and everything. Things about our wives, our kids, anything. We say one thing, and they run and tell, and next thing you know (I’m fined)…”

The incident occurred during the Clippers’ 115-109 loss to the Rockets on May 6 at Toyota Center.

Matt Barnes says Chris Paul will play Rockets-Clippers Game 3

Here’s ESPN LA quoting Matt Barnes on Chris Paul:

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul plans to start Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets on Friday, according to teammate Matt Barnes.

After going through an on-court workout on Thursday and a shootaround on Friday, Paul told teammates he plans to play in Friday’s game.

“He said he’s playing tonight,” Barnes said Friday after going through shootaround with Paul. “You just hope that he’s ready. His game is so much stop-and-go, and he’s such an integral part of our team. I hope he can stay healthy throughout the game because we’re going to need him for this run.”

Chris Paul making progress, may play in Game 3 vs Rockets

The Clippers stepped up without Chris Paul in Game 1 but could have used him in Game 2. And need him back as soon as possible. Here’s the OC Register reporting:

The Clippers left Houston with a win, plenty of confidence and homecourt advantage. But the biggest, most important thing leaving town with the Clippers was a point guard who wasn’t any more injured.

Chris Paul, the man whose last-second shot sent the NBA’s defending champions packing in Round 1, didn’t have to push it in Houston. He didn’t need to try and play to prove the Clippers can be competitive.

Instead, he rested. He healed. He put himself in position to possibly come back.

Paul went through a comprehensive workout on the court Thursday, giving him his best chance to play Friday in Game 3.

Blake Griffin steps up as vocal leader

With Chris Paul out, it was the Blake Griffin show even more than usual yesterday. And he stepped up in multiple ways. Here’s ESPN Los Angeles reporting:

Blake Griffin has always been a quiet leader.

When Chris Paul is yelling instructions or screaming for his teammates to huddle, Griffin can usually be found standing beside the rest of his teammates listening.

“I’m not ever one of those guys that’s going to yell at guys,” Griffin said. “It’s about helping them out.”

On Monday, Griffin helped out the Los Angeles Clippers by morphing into the vocal leader they were missing. With Paul sidelined for the game with a strained left hamstring, Griffin took over and made sure his play, and his voice, were heard loud and clear in leading the Clippers to a 117-101 Game 1 win over the Houston Rockets.

Griffin notched his second straight triple-double — and third in his past eight postseason games — with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists. He became the first player with back-to-back triple-doubles in the postseason since Jason Kidd accomplished the feat in 2002 and just the third non-guard with back-to-back triple-doubles in the postseason since John Havelick in 1967 and Wilt Chamberlain (twice) in 1968.

Clippers take Game 1 vs Spurs

The Clippers beat the Spurs 107-92 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin did big things for the home squad in the win. Here’s the Orange County Register reporting:

Paul delivered on the all-around excellence fans of his are accustomed to, scoring 32 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists, and Griffin delivered four of the game’s most emphatic points on the way to 26, 12 and 6.

“They had it going,” Doc Rivers said. “And we noticed it and kind of rode it.”

With the game yet to be decided in the third quarter, Griffin hammered home two separate merciless slam dunks on the head of San Antonio reserve Aron Baynes, sending the Staples Center crowd into a state of euphoria.

And while the defending NBA champions fought back from a 20-point lead to get within single digits in the fourth quarter, Griffin and Paul were there again to answer, leading a 7-0 run that doused any sparks of a comeback.

With four days off since their regular season finale, the Clippers had a trio of practices to go over the Spurs and their multiple offensive sets and defensive schemes.

Austin Rivers gets taste of playoff basketball

Here’s the OC Register reporting on Clippers reserve guard Austin Rivers:

Austin Rivers has watched NBA playoff games. He’s attended a few and was in the stands when the Boston Celtics hoisted the NBA championship trophy.

This was, however, the first time Rivers had played in an NBA postseason game. He entered Sunday’s game against San Antonio late in the first quarter and while Rivers saw limited minutes, it still was a first-in-a-lifetime experience for the Clippers coach’s son.

“Obviously, I grew up around it (NBA postseason) with my father, but it’s different when you’re out there,” said Rivers, Doc Rivers’ second son.

“At the same time, whether I was at the game or watching it like any other player, it’s still basketball but the stakes are higher.”

Austin Rivers said he didn’t expect to alter his playing style or experience any nerves, not even playing against the defending champion Spurs. The Clippers reserve guard said before the game that he was going to stick with what has gotten him playing time since being traded from New Orleans.

Glen Davis fined for kicking a seat cushion into the stands

Los Angeles Clippers forward Glen Davis has been fined $15,000 for kicking a seat cushion into the spectator stands, it was announced today by Rod Thorn, President, Basketball Operations.

The incident occurred with 4:16 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Clippers’ 119-106 win over the Boston Celtics on March 29 at TD Garden.

To view the play, click on this link.

Clippers sign Lester Hudson to 10-day contract

The Los Angeles Clippers announced today they have signed guard Lester Hudson to a 10-day contract.

Hudson comes to the Clippers from the Chinese Basketball Association where he is a two-time MVP (2014, 2015) and three-time All-Star (2012, 2014, 2015). Most recently, Hudson played for Liaoning where he averaged 31.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 50 games.

Originally drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 58th overall pick in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft, Hudson, 30, has played three seasons in the NBA. In 52 career NBA games, Hudson owns averages of 4.8 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 10.3 minutes with Boston, Memphis, Washington and Cleveland.

A Memphis native, the 6-foot-3 inch guard spent his final two years of college at the University of Tennessee-Martin. He is the only NCAA player to ever record a quadruple-double (25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals vs. Central Baptist College) in a college game. He was a two-time OVC Player of the Year (2008, 2009) at UT-Martin.