Sixers: Yea or Nay on re-signing every free agent

Should the Sixers bring back DeAndre Jordan?

DeAndre Jordan is an unrestricted free agent. The Sixers should let him walk gracefully into the sunset. Paul Reed is the backup center now, and there’s no need to saddle the depth chart with aging centers who can’t rightfully play a second of meaningful basketball. Jordan is no longer the All-NBA center of yesteryear, and his NBA career — at least in Philadelphia — should be done.

The Sixers singed Jordan in the wake of Andre Drummond’s departure to Brooklyn. At the time, you could justify it: we didn’t know if Paul Reed was ready and the Sixers’ main option behind Embiid at the time was Paul Millsap. “It can’t get any worse,” we said, not knowing what horrors laid around the corner.

It could, in fact, get worse. Jordan basically invited an open layup line for the opposing offense every time he stepped on the floor. He played at the rim in drop coverage because he couldn’t move in space, but was also too slow to recover when teams cut backdoor (despite him already being at the rim for the sole purpose of protecting the rim). He threw down some cool lobs in his time with Philly, but a few highlights does not make you a winning basketball player.

Philadelphia should ride the youth wave behind Embiid and let Jordan walk. It’s not hard to find passable backup centers in the NBA, be it in free agency or the second round of the NBA draft. Jordan is no longer a passable backup center.

Final vote: NAY