Veteran center DeAndre Jordan had been used sparingly by the Los Angeles Lakers this season, so it was not a surprise when the team decided to waive him on Monday to make room to sign veteran point guard D.J Augustin.
The Lakers are waiving DeAndre Jordan and will sign DJ Augustin, per @ShamsCharania pic.twitter.com/xbJjnM5Geo
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 1, 2022
The former three-time All-NBA center had been averaging the lowest amount of points and minutes of his career when with the Lakers, but it appears that one team has their eye on bringing in Jordan as a free agent.
Reports came out Thursday that Jordan is expected to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers should he clear waivers before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Barring an unlikely waiver claim before the 5 PM ET deadline today, center DeAndre Jordan is expected to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell ESPN. Lakers waived Jordan on Tuesday and Sixers have an open roster spot and desire to add another backup center.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 3, 2022
While one would think that he could slide right into the role that Andre Drummond had with the team as their backup big man before being traded to the Brooklyn Nets, many 76ers fans are not happy with these reports.
DJ was awful for the Lakers. Like, "not an NBA-caliber player" awful. But Paul Millsap is -25 in 56 minutes as a Sixer and the eye test is honestly worse than that, so sure, it'd be pretty hard for DJ to be any worse. He can catch lobs I guess. https://t.co/wkdH5fvqTM
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) March 3, 2022
This was absolutely the veteran big man in Doc and Daryl’s mind all along but not sure I am convinced DJ will bring anything that isn’t already on the Sixers roster https://t.co/sb5D88f1El
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) March 3, 2022
The Sixers are filling a position of need with a player that hasn't been useful over the last two years. Good luck with that. https://t.co/zMzyRbpIUL
— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) March 3, 2022
This will be controversial for some https://t.co/NdeMwidDCv
— Tyrone Johnson (@TyJohnsonNews) March 3, 2022
this is gross. Doc is going to want to play him 30+ minutes https://t.co/2j4X59fvnM
— Matt Modi (@JediModi) March 3, 2022
Jordan was just a horrible fit on a Lakers team that clearly has a ton of issues this season. The truth is that, for the Sixers, Jordan can be a backup big to give star center Joel Embiid a rest in games. That’s an essential need for the team, considering Embiid’s past injury history.
It remains to be seen if Jordan is that guy, but bringing him in can’t do any harm for the team going forward. It’s also possible that he could revert to being the productive player that he was in the past.
Jordan was also notably on the Nets roster last season, a team that will likely be one of Philadelphia’s biggest concerns this postseason. At the very least, maybe Jordan can bring in some insight into how the Nets play that can be valuable for the 76ers in a potential playoff series.
