Sixers to Sign Former Lakers Center DeAndre Jordan

The Philadelphia 76ers plan to sign former Los Angeles Lakers center DeAndre Jordan for the rest of the season, a source confirms to Sports Illustrated on Thursday.

Jordan, a 33-year-old veteran, joins the Sixers after a short-lived stint with the Lakers. During the past offseason, Jordan concluded a two-year stint with the Brooklyn Nets after getting traded to the Detroit Pistons. 

As expected, Jordan reached a contract buyout with the Pistons a few days later. Not too long after hitting the open market, Jordan landed with the Lakers.

Choosing the Lakers made sense for Jordan, who is at the part of his career where he's needed for a reduced role on a championship-contending team. Unfortunately, his stint in Los Angeles will go down as a forgettable one.

Not only have the Lakers struggled to hit their stride this season, but so did Jordan. In 32 games with the Lakers, the veteran center averaged four points and five rebounds while playing 12 minutes per game. Eventually, Jordan found himself out of Los Angeles' rotation.

And soon after, Jordan and the Lakers decided that parting ways would be best, according to Lakers head coach Frank Vogel.

"We wish DeAndre well," said Vogel on Tuesday night ahead of Los Angeles' matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. "It's really just a need thing. He gets an opportunity to have a bigger role somewhere else, he felt. We granted that to him. We had the need for more point guard and shooting that we were able to pick up with DJ Augustin."

The Lakers needed a guard, Jordan needed to move on, and now the Sixers need another big to backup their All-Star center, Joel Embiid.

A few weeks ago, the 76ers struck a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets. Both teams swapped stars as Ben Simmons went to Brooklyn and James Harden came to the Sixers -- but Philadelphia had to give up a little more in the deal, and it cost them a package including their veteran backup center Andre Drummond.

Even though the Sixers have Charles Bassey, Paul Reed, Paul Millsap, and Willie Cauley-Stein temporarily, they prefer to bring on the seasoned big man in hopes he can fill the void of Drummond down the stretch and into the postseason.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.