Buyout market candidates the Chicago Bulls should avoid: DeAndre Jordan
Another big man that isn’t on the buyout market yet that also wouldn’t check many of the boxes of what the Bulls were looking for among potential backup centers is the Los Angeles Lakers 33-year-old center DeAndre Jordan. This 13-year veteran and recent NBA journeyman saw his role dwindle with the Lakers as this season moved along.
Jordan is averaging around just four points per game, six rebounds, and fewer than one assist, block, and steal. He did start in 19 games in the first half of the season, but that was mostly at the beginning of the campaign. Jordan hasn’t even played at all in the last four games for the Lakers and was absent in 13 of the last 15.
While Jordan hasn’t officially hit the buyout market yet, he is a real candidate to get waived in the very near future. The Lakers might be interested in using that roster spot to get help elsewhere in their rotation as they look to make a real playoff push down the stretch. This is certainly a team in dire straits post-deadline, currently sitting in ninth place in the Western Conference, four games below .500.
If Jordan does hit the buyout market, I would expect he would still get scooped up by another team that needs a veteran big man that can provide some rebounding and rim protection coming off the bench. But the Bulls never really looked like the right fit for him, even before they signed Thompson last week.