The Clippers made a long-awaited move this afternoon, converting Jordan Miller from his two-way deal to a full NBA contract. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the deal is for four years, $8.3M. That first year is for the remainder of this season, giving Miller about $1M for this year. In order to clear room for Jordan Miller, the Clippers waived MarJon Beauchamp, who came over in the Kevin Porter Jr. deal but was not part of Ty Lue’s rotation.
The reason for the deal happening now is simple. March 1 is the playoff eligibility deadline, so the Clippers wanted to allow Beauchamp the opportunity to be signed to another team to make their playoff roster. Additionally, Miller had been active for 49 of his 50 NBA games allotted as a two-way player, so he could no longer give the Clippers any minutes at the NBA level.
This is a real triumph for Miller, who was the 48th pick in the 2023 Draft and has been on two-way deals the past two years. This deal, while not a “bag” by NBA standards, is a massive increase in salary for Miller – and marks him as a full-time NBA player. The Clippers have indicated they’ve wanted to sign him to a full deal since the offseason, and it’s now come to fruition.
Miller was in the Clippers’ rotation for a 12-game stretch between November 20 and December 16, and had a couple of nice games, highlighted by 15 points in a win over the Wizards on November 27 and a 14-point outing in a victory over the Blazers on December 3. However, the Clippers were getting healthier, and a couple poor outings from Miller pushed him out of the rotation. Since then, he’s only played in garbage time or in rare games where the Clippers are injured enough that he’s on the fringes of the rotation.
Miller is 25, so there’s not much in the way of traditional “upside” with him. However, he’s dominated the G-League, was fantastic in Summer League, and has had just enough good NBA outings to think he could be a rotation player in the NBA. There are two key skills for him that he needs to hone: three-point shooting and defense. He was a good defender in college and has shown flashes at higher levels but has not been consistent on that end. The three-point shooting has been very shaky in the NBA and extremely inconsistent in the G-League. If Miller could just iron out his shot and be a steadier presence on defense, his rebounding, slashing, and ability to draw fouls would make him a nice bench player. Those are big ifs, but the Clippers are willing to bet on Miller – and it’s not a bad bet for someone who has impacted winning at every level, is a hard worker, and is a well-liked teammate.
Miller’s contract now puts him with money through to the 2028 season, making him one of only two Clippers on the books for that year along Ivica Zubac and Cam Christie. That doesn’t guarantee he will be on the Clippers until then, of course, but does indicate that the Clippers think he could be on the “next” version of the Clippers after this current group ages out. He won’t be in the rotation for the rest of this season, but one would expect he will be competing for a spot next season.
As for Beauchamp, well, we hardly knew you. MarJon seems like a good dude and I wish him well – I hope he gets picked up by another NBA team.
Congrats to Jordan on the next phase of what will hopefully be a long tenure with the Clippers!
