The Los Angeles Lakers are not the championship contender that they were expected to be before the season. Once the team with the best odds in the Western Conference, the Lakers now have a better chance of not making it out of the Play-In Tournament than they do winning the NBA Finals.
It is scramble time for the Lakers as the team is looking to do anything it can to add some reinforcements to the roster. Unfortunately, the trade deadline has long passed and the options for the Lakers are limited to some less-than-desirable buyout targets.
However, the team can still make improvements simply by replacing bad players on the team and that is exactly what it did when it waived DeAndre Jordan in order to make room for DJ Augustin. Augustin himself is likely pointless for LA but he has a really low bar to cross to be better than Jordan.
DeAndre Jordan may now be the only player from this year’s Lakers to win a ring, though.
While Jordan played horribly with the Lakers — after the Brooklyn Nets simply discarded him despite needing depth — he still had a notable suitor as a free agent. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Jordan is expected to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers for the rest of the 2021-22 season.
The cycle of centers between the Lakers, Nets and 76ers has been quite impressive. In the span of just a season and a half, both Andre Drummond and DeAndre Jordan would have played for all three teams. Dwight Howard also left the Lakers for the 76ers last season before returning back to the Lakers this season.
Jordan became a target for the 76ers because of Drummond’s involvement in the James Harden trade as the team needed a backup center for Joel Embiid. Hopefully,
for 76ers fans, Jordan will be reserved for blowout minutes or when the team needs someone to pick up some fouls.
Jordan could not have gotten any luckier. He went from the preseason favorites in the Eastern Conference, to the preseason favorites in the Western Conference, to now one of the overall favorites in the 76ers. James Harden and Joel Embiid might just be the best 1-2 duo in the sport and while the East is really tough, it is hard to bet against Philly.
Harden has played three games since being traded to the 76ers and Philly has won each game by an average of 20 points. They are the real deal and now Jordan can hitch his wagon from one contender to the next to try and win his first championship.
At least someone from the 2021-22 Lakers might end their season on a high note.