Rumor: LA Clippers and Detroit Pistons talked Jordan-Drummond Swap

The LA Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan’s name has once again popped up in trade talks leading up to this years NBA Draft, this time with the Detroit Pistons.

Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Los Angeles Clippers have had talks with Detroit Pistons about a potential swap of DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond. Rumors of the Clippers looking to move the eighth-year center have gained traction in the past couple of days with Jerry West joining the front office and the NBA Draft growing closer.

During a segment on The Jump, Windhorst disclosed that the Clippers had contacted the Pistons about a swap and attempted to defend the idea while Tracy McGrady looked at him shaking his head in disbelief. Windhorst’s reasoning was that Drummond was younger, signed to a longer contract, and was a better offensive player than Jordan while DJ was a superior defensive player that the Piston may want as a centerpiece.

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While DeAndre is a better defensive player than Drummond, it’s debatable to suggest that Drummond is the better offensive player. Drummond has shown improvement in his post play, which Jordan never really uses, and the young center’s numbers would definitely improve if he had the chance to play with Chris Paul instead of a scoring oriented point guard like Reggie Jackson. But would it really make any sense for the Clippers to trade their best asset for another traditional NBA center that struggles from the free throw line?

The only situation where this trade would make sense for the Los Angeles would be if the Pistons included another young player or their first-round pick in this year’s draft along with Drummond, maybe even both. The idea of getting Stanley Johnson, who is still only 21 years old and could eventually be the wing star the team has never been able to find, would make the loss of Jordan a little bit more bearable. Drummond is also still young at only 23 years old which means he would still have time to improve and elevate his defensive game to DeAndre’s high level.

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