The Los Angeles Lakers are finally making some changes to their roster, reportedly planning to waive center DeAndre Jordan to bring in free agent point guard DJ Augustin.
The Lakers brought in Jordan towards the end of the offseason hoping the former All-Star still had some left in the tank. He began the season as the starting center for 19 games before fading out of the rotation completely as the Lakers shifted to a smaller brand of basketball.
Overall in 32 games for the Lakers, Jordan averaged 4.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 12.8 minutes, all significantly below his career averages.
Once Jordan is waived by the Lakers, other teams will have a chance to claim him. If he goes unclaimed then he becomes a free agent available to sign with any team. It appears one team with interest will be the Philadelphia 76ers, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
The 76ers have been in the market for a backup center and will be aggressive in pursuit of DeAndre Jordan — either placing a waiver claim or working to sign him as a free agent should he clear waivers, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 1, 2022
Philadelphia makes sense as a landing spot given Jordan’s history with head coach Doc Rivers on the Los Angeles Clippers. The 76ers also traded away another former center in Andre Drummond at the deadline, so they have a need for a backup to Joel Embiid.
Lakers signing Wenyan Gabriel to two-way contract
With the loss of Jordan, the Lakers are left with a severely undersized roster to finish out the season, especially with Anthony Davis being out.
The Lakers have gotten little-to-no production from their two-way players this season, but that may change with them reportedly set to add 6’9″ forward Wenyan Gabriel.
Gabriel can give the Lakers some length as a small-ball big that can run the floor and shoot a little bit, which aligns with the type of basketball they’re trying to play.
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