EL SEGUNDO — D.J. Augustin was ready to hear where his basketball career would take him next.

If only his kids would quiet down.

The 34-year-old has four children, ages 9 through 1, and he was picking some of them up from school in Houston when his agent called Monday afternoon with an opportunity.

“I was actually on my phone with my agent as they were getting in the car,” he said. “I was kind of like, ‘Yo, shhh, this is important.’”

The next 48 hours went at a blistering pace. Augustin said he tossed a few essentials – including two pairs of his Kobe sneakers – into a bag, thinking he’d be able to buy the rest later in Los Angeles. By Tuesday, he had made it to California. By Wednesday afternoon, he was working with Lakers assistant coaches David Fizdale and Phil Handy learning terminology with fellow newcomer Wenyen Gabriel.

But now with his 11th NBA franchise, Augustin has gotten used to picking up his life at the drop of a hat and going where the work is. And while he took some time off after having his contract bought out in Houston, where he was muscled out during the Rockets’ rebuilding phase, Augustin said the Lakers’ brand holds a lot of meaning to him – it’s one of the jerseys even he hasn’t worn before.

“When the Lakers called, you think about the history, you think about the championships, you think about Kobe, Magic, all those guys,” he said. “I know I’m leaving so many guys out, even LeBron, what he’s done since he’s been here. You can’t pass up on an opportunity like that as an NBA player and I would have regretted looking back on my career and not taking this opportunity, no matter what comes from it.”

While the Lakers (27-34) are definitely caught in a rut, losing 10 of their last 13 games, they hope that Augustin and Gabriel might stir up the room a little bit as they attempt to get over the hump with 21 games left in the regular season. Augustin played mainly a reserve role for the Rockets this season (5.4 ppg, 2.2 apg), while Gabriel has mostly played in the G League for the Wisconsin Herd.

In fact, Gabriel was wrapping up a workout for the Milwaukee Bucks when he got the call. He nearly boarded a flight to Grand Rapids, Mich., to play a G League game. Instead, the 6-foot-9 forward – who has spent significant time with the Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans – was SoCal-bound, much to his delight.

“I woke up today, went outside and had shorts on,” the skinny-framed forward said. “The other day, I woke up in Osh Kosh (Wisc.) and it was negative-17. A little different.”

For both players, there is a lot of familiarity: Gabriel joins a roster with his college teammate at Kentucky, Malik Monk, as well as former Portland teammates Trevor Ariza and Carmelo Anthony.

Augustin has played for Coach Frank Vogel before, but he has also played parts of two seasons with Russell Westbrook, who he’ll back up again. Augustin acknowledged he was among those blown away when the Lakers constructed a veteran roster, thinking they were “loaded” and poised to compete for a title. Even though the ninth-place Lakers are well out of contention at the moment, Augustin took an optimistic spin on the franchise’s state of affairs.

“When it comes to winning a championship, it’s just who plays the best in those moments: Who plays the best in the playoffs,” he said. “And it doesn’t really matter who is on your team. It’s who comes together at the right time and plays the right way, that’s what builds championships.”

For the Lakers, getting healthy bodies might help. Augustin adds point guard depth that the team hasn’t had since trading Rajon Rondo two months ago; Gabriel potentially provides forward depth if the team wants to give him minutes (he’s on a two-way contract). In addition, the Lakers upgraded veteran guard Avery Bradley, who has missed the last four games with right knee swelling, to questionable for Thursday’s game against the Clippers.

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The biggest factor might be just not getting behind. Vogel acknowledged fatigue played a role in the team erasing a big second-half deficit before faltering in the fourth quarter against Dallas.

“When you dig a hole like that, it takes a lot of energy to dig out of it,” he said. “And we expended a lot of energy in that third quarter. A lot of times in those situations, you don’t have enough gas in the tank to finish the job.”

With fresh faces, maybe the Lakers have fresh fuel.

“I know they haven’t been playing up to everybody’s expectations, I would say,” Augustin said of the Lakers. “But it’s the NBA, and things happen. But we’re still in a good position where we can still have a chance. And that’s all you need in this league, is a chance.”