Lakers Free Agency: Clippers desperation plea to DeAndre Jordan could endanger Roy Hibbert trade

NBA free agency took one final twist before the moratorium ends on July 9, and the Los Angeles Clippers are putting a full-court press on DeAndre Jordan to persuade him to return instead of signing with the Dallas Mavericks, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. Blake Griffin "huddled" with Jordan Tuesday night, and a contingency of Clippers are traveling to Houston to make a final plea before he signs his contract with Dallas. Chris Paul is also said to be a key part of the push to bring Jordan back.

Will this affect the Lakers, though? The Mavericks were one of the teams interested in trading for Roy Hibbert if they didn't sign Jordan. Without DeAndre, would they switch gears and try to renegotiate with Indiana? The Lakers and Pacers have yet to finalize the trade, which wasn't expected to be completed until July 9. As it stands the only details that seem certain is the Lakers are offering a second-round draft pick to absorb Roy's salary from Indiana. It's unclear if the Pacers would be willing to break off of a deal that was said to be agreed upon besides the final assets being shifted.

Los Angeles was said to be interested in gaining additional financial flexibility by seeking salary-dump trades for Nick Young, Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre, but have yet to execute the next step in their plan. The NBA also finalizes the salary cap figure for the season, which is reportedly anticipated to be approximately $2 million higher than the league initially projected. That number could assist the Lakers in finalizing their deals with Lou Williams and Brandon Bass.

As it stands the Lakers shouldn't be more than a few hours away from finalizing their deals once the moratorium lifts Wednesday night at 9 p.m. PT. If DeAndre changes his mind on going to Dallas, it's worth keeping an eye on the Hibbert situation.