Everyone by now has heard about Deandre Jordan screwing the Dallas Mavericks and reneging on their offer. It has left fans and NBA insides pretty pissed off. The NBA free agency period is usually full of drama but this took it to a whole new level. What happened last night is something out of reality TV and downright embarrassing.

The Clippers basically barricaded Deandre Jordan inside his house and didn’t let his own agent or Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban see him. Jordan also refused to answer calls from Cuban and fellow Mavericks recruiter Chandler Parsons. When 12 am hit and the NBA moratorium was lifted Jordan signed his max contract with the Clippers despite making a promise to Dallas only a few days prior. Jordan screwed Cuban, an aging Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews, and the entire Mavericks organization. The reason being is that free agency starts on July 1st but deals can’t be signed till July 9th. This is the moratorium. And in between this time free agents and teams make verbal agreements on contracts.

Dallas thought they had their two prized free agents in the bag coming to agreements with Jordan and Matthews but Jordan backed out last minute and every other important NBA free agent had already made deals with other teams. Chandler Parsons came out today labeling as someone who was scared of the spotlight and couldn’t handle the pressure. The Mavericks have no one to turn to now. They had an option B lined up with Indiana to trade for Roy Hibbert if Jordan didn’t work out but Jordan had agreed to sign with Dallas so Indiana moved on. Dallas’s roster now consists of Nowitzki, Parsons, Devin Harris, Dwight Powell, JJ Barea, Raymond Felton, and a rehabbing Wesley Matthews. The Mavericks had potential for the future with Jordan on this time. Now the future of the Mavericks is a big question mark due to Jordan’s decision. The Clippers instantly became one of the most hated teams in the NBA despite already being right up there and Jordan became public enemy no. 1.

Things could have played out differently if the NBA didn’t have this moratorium period or at least shortened it. The reason it exists is so that the player’s union and the NBA can count up last season’s profits and split them up. The NBA has to find a way to make this happen faster. The Moratorium also started because the NBA worried that agents would be talking to teams despite free agency not starting till a later date but this happens anyway. You don’t think these agents are talking to other teams and letting them know that their player is interested in signing next season? Starting the entire free agent process along with the right to sign players earlier would cause problems like this to go away. A good NBA team just collapsed over false promises. Or just ban all talks till July 9th from the start. This way players will have meetings with teams and be able to sign contracts right away. Mark Cuban is really pissed despite acting civil. He has every right to be. His team has fallen apart over one man and a 36 year old Dirk Nowitzki will probably be playing for a lottery team next season. You can bet that Cuban will be lobbying for a change after this. Cuban has had to deal with plenty of petty players before and this takes us to another point: Mark Cuban has had terrible luck over the years:

Jason Kidd: Cuban has gutted his team before looking to sign big time free agents only to have them leave him hanging. After winning their first championship Cuban decided not to resign his key free agents. He let Tyson Chandler go and traded valuable role players in order to make a run at Dwight Howard and Deron Williams. Both men signed with other teams. The Mavericks tried to put together a team on the fly but ultimately failed. It was this offseason where Cuban was first screwed over when one of his key free agents ditched Dallas for New York. Jason Kidd decided he had a better chance at a ring with the Knicks and Cuban was pissed. He called Kidd out and told the media that Kidd’s jersey would not be retired despite helping the Mavericks win a championship.

Derek Fisher: The Mavericks signed Derek Fisher after losing their point guard. Fisher played solidly for Dallas but roughly halfway through the season Fisher asked to be released citing that he wanted to be with his family as the reason. It didn’t take long for Fisher to jump to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the minimum (hint: Fisher’s family didn’t live in Oklahoma). This prompted a league wide eye rolling as Fisher had requested to be released from the Utah Jazz years earlier to tend to his sick daughter only to sign with the Lakers. Cuban took every opportunity to throw shots at the ring chaser.

Lamar Odom: That same off season the Mavericks traded a first round pick for Lamar Odom. Odom had become a highly skilled player during his time in LA and even won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. But he wasn’t the same man in Dallas. Odom looked depressed and disinterested. He didn’t get back on defense and his nifty scoring vanished. Cuban and Odom blew up at each other during halftime at a game. Odom was eventually go with the Mavericks losing both money and their first round pick for next to nothing.

Cuban has been screwed a few times now and has missed out on getting big free agents several times. And just as he was about to get his big fish it all came crashing down. This one will sting the hardest and the longest but the Mavericks a top organization and while their star is close to retirement, something tells me the combination of Cuban’s money and Chandler’s charming pitches will bring in the right talent. Hard to see where Dallas goes from here with a coach who doesn’t want to lose and an aging star.