The Philadelphia 76ers has been in need of a backup point guard for years; finally, they have found one. The problem is that DeAndre Jordan doesn’t really help the team win games.
The “deandre jordan clutchpoints” is a move that the Philadelphia 76ers made to fill a need. However, it doesn’t seem like it will help them get any closer to winning a title.
DeAndre Jordan, a center, is expected to join the Philadelphia 76ers as a backup to Joel Embiid. On March 1, the Los Angeles Lakers released the 14-year veteran, making him eligible to participate in the playoffs with a new club. After sending veteran Andre Drummond to the Brooklyn Nets in the Ben Simmons transaction, the Sixers sought to explain their bench position following Embiid.
Rather of taking Jordan, Philadelphia will let him pass waivers. Because the club is already tax-paying, addressing the 33-year-old as a free agent rather than a waiver claim reduces the tax penalty.
But what do the 76ers receive in return?
Since early September, DeAndre Jordan has been assigned to his fourth club.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ DeAndre Jordan looks on during their game against the Detroit Pistons | Nic Antaya/Getty Images
DeAndre Jordan was signed by the Lakers on Sept. 9, three days after his contract with the Detroit Pistons was bought out. Jordan returned $4 million, and the Detroit Pistons ate the remaining two years and $15.7 million of his four-year, $40 million agreement with the Brooklyn Nets, which he signed in July 2019.
Jordan was sent to the Pistons in exchange for Sekou Doumbouya and Jahlil Okafor by the Nets. On March 1, LA released Doumbouya from his two-way deal in order to sign Wenyen Gabriel. In Jordan’s place, the Lakers signed veteran guard D.J. Augustin.
Jordan was a three-time All-NBA pick earlier in his career (due in part to the All-NBA squad still consisting of one center, two forwards, and two guards), but his play has deteriorated drastically over the previous three seasons.
He started 19 games for the Lakers until being removed from the lineup right before Christmas by coach Frank Vogel. Since then, he’s only appeared in five games, averaging 10 points and 15 rebounds in 52 minutes.
Jordan never possessed much of a jump shot, and as he grew older, obtaining playing time in the pace-and-space era became increasingly difficult. Last year, the Brooklyn Nets deactivated him for the playoffs.
He’ll now have the opportunity to join the rotating door of big players that play behind Embiid for the Philadelphia 76ers. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers are the frontrunners to sign Jordan.
By signing Jordan to a prorated veteran’s minimum deal for the rest of the season, Philadelphia’s tax bill will increase from $13.2 million to $13.8 million. According to Bobby Marks of ESPN via Twitter, claiming the veteran off waivers would have taken on Jordan’s total $1.66 million cap hit and upped the penalty to $16.1 million.
Another alternative was required by the Philadelphia 76ers.
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The Philadelphia 76ers attempted to push reserve center Paul Reed into playing time after moving Drummond. Reed, who is 6-foot-9 and 210 pounds and is undersized for the position, scored 15 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in 43 minutes in the first three games following the deal.
He was also called for eight fouls.
Since being acquired from the Nets, Paul Millsap has averaged 5.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 11.0 minutes a night. He, like Reed, is too small to play lengthy minutes at the five. On February 24, the 76ers signed Willie Cauley-Stein to a 10-day contract. He’s only appeared once, in a four-minute cameo at the close of the team’s rout of Minnesota on Feb. 25.
Embiid, who averages 29.8 points and 11.1 rebounds in 33.0 minutes per game, is a strong contender for NBA MVP. Coach Doc Rivers does not want to rely too much on the Cameroonian due to his medical history. After Drummond moved to Brooklyn, though, getting 15 minutes of solid play every night was tough.
DeAndre Jordan may not be of much assistance. With 12.8 minutes a game in Los Angeles, he averaged 4.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. His last game with the Lakers was one for the Shaqtin-a-Fool vaults, as he hit Wayne Ellington with an outlet pass that was a bit too high. Seats that are five rows deep into the baseline are far too high.
He hasn’t appeared in a playoff game since his last season with the Clippers in 2017. Defensively, the 6-foot-11 center is at least a step slower. The Sixers’ good news is that they won’t need All-Star DeAndre Jordan from five years ago. When Embiid is on a break, they need someone who won’t murder them.
Before DeAndre Jordan, there’s a long series of capable backups.
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Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers had Dwight Howard as Embiid’s backup before adding Drummond last summer. They only used the former All-Star for 12.4 minutes a game in the playoffs, and he averaged 4.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. In those minutes, though, the squad was a minus-34.
The 76ers attempted to stagger minutes in 2020 with the uneasy frontcourt duo of Embiid and Al Horford. It finished in a first-round sweep, which was about all Philly could manage.
In the 2019 postseason, when Embiid was a plus-143 for the playoffs, Greg Monroe and Boban Marjanovi split backup responsibilities. The stand-ins combined for a minus-69 record, including the memorable Game 7 defeat in the second round on the Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater. Monroe only saw two minutes of action in that game, and the Sixers were defeated by a nine-point margin. That was important in a two-point loss.
So DeAndre Jordan doesn’t have a difficult task ahead of him. This season, though, Philadelphia is dealing with a similar issue. They’ve outscored opponents by 258 points when their great center is on the court. They’ve been outperformed by 121 when Embiid sits.
DeAndre Jordan will not be asked to make a difference for the Philadelphia 76ers this spring. They’ll be overjoyed if he can provide them break-even minutes while Embiid rests. Even that is perhaps too much to expect at this juncture in Jordan’s career.
Basketball Reference and NBA.com provided the statistics. Spotrac provided contract details.
Tobias Harris, according to James Harden, should dribble less.
DeAndre Jordan is a solid player for the Philadelphia 76ers, but he doesn’t move the needle in terms of winning. DeAndre Jordan has been a good player without being a great one. Reference: deandre jordan.
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