DeAndre Jordan scouting report via Clips Nation

It is sounding more and more like this trade is going to go down and one of the main constants in the deal is the inclusion of DeAndre Jordan in the mix. So what would we be getting in Jordan? Check out this great Exit Interview post by Clips Nation (also see some snippets below):

2012-2013 Clippers Exit Interviews: DeAndre Jordan

The Good:

Jordan posted a career high PER of 17.2 this season and has always been a darling of metrics like Wins Produced. He was a vastly improved scorer this season, averaging a career high 8.8 points per game. On a per 36 minute basis, his scoring average jumped to 13 after slowly declining from 10.6 to 9.7 over the first four seasons of his career. That is to say, after showing no improvement in scoring in his first four seasons, he had about a 30% increase in his fifth. He did this while leading the entire league in field goal percentage, making .643 of his shots. Sure, those are mostly dunks and putbacks -- but he's making them.

The Bad:

Jordan has always been a truly terrible free throw shooter, and this season, unlike in other seasons, he got progressively worse as the season wore on. This was a surprising development, given that the Clippers hired shooting coach Bob Thate to work specifically with Griffin and Jordan this season. Griffin made significant improvement from the line -- Jordan regressed. Over the past three seasons, Jordan had improved from .375 to .452 to .525 -- an encouraging trend line that would have him above 60% within a season or two. This season, he shot .386. Even more troubling, he got much worse over the course of the season -- his free throw percentage decrease each month of the season to the point where he made just 12 of 49 attempts in March and April.

The Future:

I'd be very interested to see what Jordan might do with 32 minutes per game when he's not looking over his shoulder, wondering if his coach is about to pull him. Of course, a new coach can't shoot his free throws for him. He can't play at the end of quarters if he can't make free throws.

Jordan is signed for two more seasons on a contract that is very expensive, but more or less the going rate for centers.

Maybe I'm just talking myself into this, but I like the inclusion of Jordan. He's still a work in progress and he's obviously got to figure out that free throw shooting and get some consistency in his game (he's called a fast starter that fades as the year goes along). But he can rebound and dunk and he's getting marginally better on defense.

We would get two years to figure out if he's worth the money and if he isn't we can trade him or let him walk for the cap space. I think it is a good pickup. (the debate about it being "enough" compensation is a debate for whenever this thing is done)