1. DeAndre Jordan
This is the most obvious player of the bunch. Anyone that has watched a lick of the Los Angeles Lakers this season has seen DeAndre Jordan play and it is clear that he is not what the Lakers need this season. There is a reason why a contending team like the Brooklyn Nets wanted to get rid of him instead of keeping him around for depth.
Jordan is just not the same guy. He is not much of an impact on the offensive end and his defense is not much better. Jordan is slow and he is nowhere close to being the guy that he was even three years ago.
The Lakers were trying to recreate the center duo of Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, replacing McGee with Jordan. It just is not the same as Jordan is not nearly as athletic as McGee was for the 2020 championship Lakers.
Laker fans will be happy to hear that there is actual speculation that the team might end up releasing Jordan in order to make room on the roster for Stanley Johnson. That would be the best thing for the Lakers as Jordan does not raise the ceiling at all.
In fact, you can make the case that Jordan is lowering the team’s ceiling.