Clippers Re-Sign Jordan Miller To Three Year Deal

Two minutes after I wrote an article going over the Clippers’ offseason thus far and discussing potential future moves, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Clippers have come to terms with wing Jordan Miller on a new 3 year, $15.3M contract. Law Murray of the Athletic chimed in a bit later to note that only the first year of the deal will be guaranteed.

Just like the Kobe Sanders deal, I don’t have much to say about this one. Jordan Miller was excellent for the Clippers last year in a reserve role, scoring 10 points per game with 3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in just 22.1 minutes while scoring with exceptional efficiency (62.8 True Shooting) and being solid defensively. He’s objectively worth more than the deal the Clippers are paying him, even without the last two seasons being non-guaranteed. If Jordan continues to play at the level he did last year, the Clippers keeping him for the last two years (or moving him for plus value) seems assured. Jordan is also 26 years old, meaning this contract is covering his prime years in the NBA. It feels like a major underpay.

However, similarly to Kobe, I understand this deal from Jordan’s perspective. He is a restricted free agent who was a late second round pick and only has one season of true rotation level play. While I think he’s a very solid role player, the NBA might not be quite as convinced, especially since he was a five-year college player without as much early career hype. There might not have been much out there for Jordan more than this.

In addition, just like Kobe, Miller has been on two-way contracts or league minimums in his first three season. This contract is thus a massive salary raise for him, and a much-earned reward for how hard he’s worked to develop his game over his three years in the NBA.

With the Miller signing, the Clippers now have 12 full roster contracts, with Baba Miller likely filling a 13th, though he could be signed to a two-way if needed. Nick Martinelli, the Clippers’ other second-round pick, will almost certainly be on a two-way. It should be noted that Cam Christie’s deal is non-guaranteed with a guarantee date of after Summer League, so he could be cut if needed. I do think cutting him and bringing him back on a two-way is a better use of resources.

Regardless, the Clippers only have two full roster spots left as of right now, with a massive hole on their roster at power forward. I think those two spots will be filled by a starter acquired by free agent or trade and by Nic Batum, though if the power forward is acquired via trade, it would presumably open up another roster spot vacated by whoever is sent out. The Clippers definitely still have moves to make.

Congratulations to Jordan on the deal. Jordan is, somehow, the longest-tenured player on the team, and will continue to be so moving forward.