Doc Rivers assesses the play of DeAndre Jordan for Sixers off the bench
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers needed a big man off their bench to back up Joel Embiid, so it makes sense why they signed DeAndre Jordan off the buyout market.
However, the minutes from Jordan haven’t exactly been great.
It’s clear that the 14-year veteran is not the player he once was when he was an All-Star and a member of the All-NBA first team. On the floor, he struggles in some moments, and the minutes without Joel Embiid in Monday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets were did not go well.
However, coach Doc Rivers likes the play of Jordan off the bench despite the results so far.
“He’s been great, overall,” said Rivers. “I think today (Monday) he struggled a little bit, but he’s the one roller on our team. He gets downhill. He sprints the floor and that’s so important for our team. He’s been really good. He’s really bought into what we’re trying to do.”
Jordan’s minutes with Harden have been especially tough as the Sixers have had a hard time getting anything going on either end.
DeAndre Jordan in his 4 games as a Sixer:
-13 in 51 minutes
The Sixers are getting outscored by 13.6 points per 100 possessions with him on the court.
The Sixers are getting outscored by 22.71 points per 100 possessions in Jordan’s 39 minutes next to Harden.
— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) March 15, 2022
The issue isn’t that Jordan is on the roster. He can still do some good things for Philadelphia even just as a veteran in the locker room. The potential problem is that Rivers will continue going to him as if he is the answer to all of their problems at the backup center spot.
With 15 games left before the playoffs, roles and production can still change within the rotation.
“We like what we’re doing rotationally right now,” said Rivers. “That doesn’t mean it can’t change. This is the good thing or bad thing, I don’t how you wanna look at it about our team, is we have 11 guys that can play. That’s a good thing. Will all 11 play? Probably not, but it gives us an opportunity to make changes when we need to.”
Rivers will have to continue how to assess this team and how he can work Jordan into the rotation.
“We can go with the bigger lineup with DJ or we can go small lineup with Tobias (Harris) and Georges (Niang) and James,” he finished. “It gives us great flexibility. The bad part about it is we don’t have a lot of time. We’re not just gonna do it just to do it to get ready. We have practice days and shootarounds that we’ll work on stuff.”
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