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Cavs: The NBA finally saw the truth about Andre Drummond after all

By Chad Porto

MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 22: Andre Drummond #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on against the Miami Heat during second half at American Airlines Arena on February 22, 2020 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 22: Andre Drummond #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on against the Miami Heat during second half at American Airlines Arena on February 22, 2020 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Andre Drummond has officially succumbed to his empty stats.

Say what you want about his rebounds per game stat, but the NBA has finally said: “enough is enough”; Andre Drummond, you are not a starter. The Cavs got lambasted for buying out Drummond, despite the fact that Drummond pushed for the trade and despite the fact that no one wanted to trade for him. Drummond. So they deactivated him. After no trades developed, Drummond was bought out, went to the Lakers, and tanked.

Go figure, no one wanted a near $30 million dollar reserve player.

Now Drummond is joining the Philadelphia 76ers on a one-year, minimum/MLE contract, to backup Joel Embiid. A man he has not gotten along with. Think about how bad the offers were for Drummond when you see him signing with a team, whose star is a player he can’t stand and to suffer through that for at best $5ish million. That gives you an idea that Drummond was not worth the hype and that Koby Altman, for all his faults, was right about Drummond.

While Drummond had a reputation of getting double-doubles in Detroit when it came time to trade him the Cavaliers offered the best set of assets. A second-round pick, Brandon Knight and John Henson. That’s all it took for a two-time All-Star and a guy some considered to be a Defensive Player of the Year. When a trade is that weak, it’s time to acknowledge the return wasn’t much better.

I bought that hype wholeheartedly. I saw the stats and was very excited about his arrival. For what it was, the Cavs still won that trade with the Pistons, but Drummond was not what he appeared to be. A fine defensive player, but a beyond terrible offensively one. When it came to defense, he constantly ran off the court by smaller lineups and couldn’t make up for it on the offensive end of the court. Often times ignoring plays and taking the ball up the court himself, or taking just the worst shots imaginable.

Andre Drummond’s legacy will forever be defined as an empty stats guy

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Drummond has proven once and for all that such things like “empty stats” in the NBA do in fact exist. There’s no doubt that he can play defense in the low-post, we’ve seen it. He can. The problem is that most offensive big-men don’t just post up anymore. You have guys like Jonas Valunciunas, Joel Embiid, and others who can hit a  mid-range jumper like NBA guards of the 1980s used to.

That is not something Drummond can cover. He gets caught in screens too often and is often time duped into coming out on a smaller player, only to get cooked on a shot, or fooled into giving up a lane right behind him.

This is an issue that Jarrett Allen doesn’t have.

Drummond has some value in the role he’ll have with the 76ers. More than likely a 20-minute per-game situation, where he’ll take next to zero shots, and be expected to be a goalie around the rim. That’s what he’s best at, and anything more would be problematic for the team.

dark. Next. Cavs: 3 things the Andre Drummond situation really showed us

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