NBA Teams Making Moves
With six weeks left in the regular season, a number of NBA teams have been making moves to secure their place for the upcoming playoffs and to make a run once the postseason starts.
Lakers Sign Drummond
The injured Anthony Davis remains out indefinitely, but insurance is coming to Los Angeles in the person of two-time former All-Star Andre Drummond.
The Cavaliers shut him down on Feb. 12 in an effort to keep him healthy for a potential trade. The trade never came, and Drummond negotiated a buyout of his contract. He then cleared waivers and has now signed with the Lakers.
When the Lakers get Davis back, Drummond may find himself without a real position in the lineup. Davis will be the first option at center, and Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell are in the rotation. But for right now, with the health of Davis and LeBron James an issue, Drummond fills an obvious void underneath.
The Knicks, Celtics, Hornets and Clippers also reportedly reached out to Drummond about signing with them, but the Lakers give him the best chance to win an NBA championship. Online sportsbooks currently have the Lakers at +325 to win the title.
Nets Sign Aldridge
Another player changing teams and chasing a ring is former Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge. Similar to what happened with Drummond, the Spurs sat Aldridge earlier in March and were hopeful they could work out a trade. No trade materialized, a buyout was agreed upon, and as a free agent, Aldridge decided to sign with Brooklyn.
The Heat had been favored to sign Aldridge before he did an about-face and chose the team that online bookmakers have as the favorite to win the NBA championship. The Nets are currently paying +200 on an NBA title bet.
Aldridge is in his 15th NBA season, and even though he's in the twilight of his career and his playing time has been reduced, he is averaging more than 13 points per game this season after averaging almost 19 points last year.
Spurs to Sign Dieng
The Spurs moved on from Aldridge because their focus on youth had reduced his playing time. The Grizzlies' push for youth did the same thing to 6-10 center Gorgui Dieng, who was recently released by the team, cleared waivers and is now signing with the Spurs.
San Antonio had a hole to fill, and even though Dieng is 31 — and becomes the fourth oldest player on a roster that has 10 players at 25 years or younger — he will be the guy to fill it.
Dieng had several offers from teams while he was waiting to clear waivers, including several from teams in championship contention. But playing time meant more to Dieng than anything else, and he will get plenty of minutes in San Antonio.
The Spurs are unlikely to make much noise in the playoffs, but the team is currently projected to make the play-in tournament. The Spurs' string of 22 consecutive playoff appearances was snapped in 2019-20.
