clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Lakers cut DeAndre Jordan, plan to sign DJ Augustin

In addition to cutting DeAndre Jordan to make room for DJ Augustin, the Lakers will also sign Wenyen Gabriel to a two-way contract.

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Los Angeles Lakers v San Antonio Spurs Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are cutting DeAndre Jordan, freeing up a roster spot for midseason free agency in the process, and will use the newfound space to sign DJ Augustin, according to multiple reports.

Today was the final day teams could waive a player by and allow them to be playoff eligible for another team. In addition to Augustin, Charania reports that the team will add Wenyen Gabriel — the all-time leading scorer in the team’s predraft “Lakers Mentality” drill — on a two-way contract.

To create an open two-way spot to sign Gabriel, the Lakers will be waiving Sekou Doumbouya.

Augustin is obviously unlikely to fix all this team’s issues, but after standing pat at the trade deadline, the Lakers didn’t really have any other options outside of this to add to their roster. And after last night’s lifeless loss to the Pelicans, this team was clearly in need of a shakeup.

The Lakers are also unlikely to miss Jordan much. In 32 appearances, he had the worst net rating (-12.3) of any player to play more than 40 minutes for the team this season. That somehow undersells how washed he usually looked.

Augustin played in 34 games for the Houston Rockets this season (starting twice) before being cut last month, and he averaged 5.4 points, 2.2 assists and 1.2 rebounds while shooting 40.6% from deep in this appearances. It’s not really clear he totally addresses a need for this team, but hey, maybe some new blood can inject a bit of energy into this roster. And with how bad Jordan has been this year, the 5’11 Augustin may actually be an upgrade at center, much less at backup point guard.

Still, this is very funny:

It sounds like Jordan will follow in the footsteps of Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond, and become the third Lakers center in a row to join the Sixers as Joel Embiid’s backup:

Either way, the timing of this cut also means that, hilariously, Jordan’s almost astoundingly errant lob attempt vs. the Pelicans will be one of the final plays he made during his ignominious Lakers tenure.

Forget his atrocious efficiency metrics and on-off numbers, or the team doing him a favor and letting him go join a contender. No. I Instead choose to believe that this was the final straw for Rob Pelinka.

This breaking news story may be updated with more information, analysis and reaction as it continues to develop. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Silver Screen & Roll Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of Los Angeles Lakers news from Silver Screen & Roll