DeAndre Jordan is ready to capitalize on the ‘best opportunity’ with Sixers and Doc Rivers

DeAndre Jordan called last week’s departure from the Los Angeles Lakers “just business.” It helped that he had a natural fit with the 76ers waiting on the other end of being waived.

The Sixers signed Jordan last week as another backup center option after including Andre Drummond in the trade package to the Brooklyn Nets that brought James Harden to Philly. While Jordan said he had other suitors on the buyout market, the Sixers presented him with an opportunity to reunite with longtime coach Doc Rivers and former teammates Harden and Tobias Harris — and play for a championship contender.

“It was a chance to come here and play a little more,” Jordan said following the shootaround ahead of Monday’s game against the Chicago Bulls. “And we have a chance to go further in the postseason. … This was just the best opportunity, I feel like, for me.”

» READ MORE: It’s no surprise Ben Simmons won’t play in Philly. Question is, will he show his face? | David Murphy

With Millsap ruled out for Monday’s game for personal reasons, Rivers said during his pregame media availability that the 6-foot-11 Jordan would slide into that backup center role.

“He’s a big, and he’s going to be big on the floor no matter what,” Rivers said of Jordan. “Some of the things he’s done, he did in Brooklyn, he did with us [with the Los Angeles Clippers]. Some will be new. He hasn’t played a lot of minutes, so we’ll just see how it goes.”

Jordan joined his new team Saturday in Miami, where he started to learn plays and defensive coverages, worked out with the staff and sat on the bench for the Sixers’ loss to the Heat. The 33-year-old said Monday that he feels “great” physically, adding he had ramped up during the past couple of weeks while in Los Angeles after averaging 4.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 12.8 minutes in 32 games with the Lakers.

With the Sixers, Jordan said “my job doesn’t change at all.” That means rebounding, providing defensive intensity, and spacing the floor by setting screens and rolling hard. He says he expects to benefit from the minutes Harden plays with that second unit, because “for a big or anybody trying to get easy baskets, he’s the best guy to play with.”

Jordan also appreciates linking back up with Rivers, whom he called “the best coach I’ve ever had” during their five seasons together with the Clippers.

“He’s more than a coach to me,” Jordan said of Rivers. " … When a new player comes to a team, it’s always everybody trying to get them to feel acclimated. But with Doc, he’s going to curse me out like I’ve been here all season.”

The Bulls’ Billy Donovan became the latest opposing coach to praise Sixers breakout guard Tyrese Maxey, who entered Monday averaging 24.8 points on 62% shooting and 65.4% from three-point range, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 steals in five games since the All-Star break.

Donovan, who coached the Oklahoma City Thunder before joining the Bulls, compared Maxey’s second-year leap to the early-career strides for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Gilgeous-Alexander went from rookie reserve with the Clippers to borderline All-Star after moving to the Thunder in the July 2019 Paul George trade.

» READ MORE: 40 years ago, the 76ers tried solving their backup center dilemma by bringing Wilt Chamberlain out of retirement

“It’s always a good sign when a young player is afforded an opportunity to get a lot of significant minutes, and then you see a huge growth the next year,” Donovan said of Maxey. “… He’s taken another jump from where he was last year to this year, and I do think some of that jump has been based on experience.”

Donovan hopes for a similar trajectory for Bulls rookie point guard Ayo Dosunmu, who has been forced into a significant role during a 2021-22 season filled with injuries and teammates in COVID-19 health and safety protocols.