Report: Mavs engaged in DeAndre Jordan trade talks with Clippers

The Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers are in trade talks involving Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, sources told Marc Stein of the New York Times.

The Mavericks hope to have a deal in place to acquire Jordan before the end of the week, Stein reports.

The three-time All-NBAer has until the end of Friday to decide whether to exercise his $24-million player option for the 2018-19 season or become an unrestricted free agent.

If he opts out, the Mavericks have the cap space to simply sign Jordan outright, though it's possible they'd have some competition on the open market. Swingman Wesley Matthews would likely be the centerpiece of a package headed back to the Clippers, according to Stein.

This, of course, is not the first time the Mavericks have tried to acquire Jordan. They famously came to a verbal agreement with him on a four-year max contract during the summer of 2015, only for Jordan to pull an about-face just before the free-agent moratorium was lifted and return to the Clippers.

The 29-year-old led the NBA in rebounding rate last season while posting a career-best assist rate and shooting a career-high 58 percent from the free-throw line. He also finished with the lowest block rate of his career, and Jordan's overall defensive metrics continued to trend in the wrong direction. The Clippers performed significantly better on both ends with him on the bench.