Andre Drummond came back to help the Sixers with rebounding and their backup center situation, but he’s added a wrinkle to his game.
When news of an Andre Drummond reunion with the Sixers came about, it made all the sense in the world.
The team had just lost a tough playoff series against the Knicks in six games. The two biggest issues in that series were the drop in play when Joel Embiid went to the bench and New York crushing them on the glass. Drummond is a remedy for both.
But what perhaps nobody was expecting was the new skill Drummond added to his repertoire: the three.
That’s right. Andre Drummond, who shot 37.1% from the free throw line as a rookie, is adding the deep ball to his game in Year 13.
“My job here is to do whatever I’m told by the coaching staff,” Drummond said at training camp when asked about shooting 3s. “I’m not here to do anything outside of that. So if you shooting it’s for a reason, it’s not for any other reason besides I was told to.”
Before the Sixers’ preseason drubbing on the New Zealand Breakers Monday night, Drummond could be seen practicing threes — and they looked smooth. There was nothing funky in his setup, no hitch in his release. Everything about them looked good. Most importantly, most of them were going in.
So when the ball swung to him in the left corner at the 8:02 mark of the first quarter, the veteran big man rose up and fired.
Drummond tried another from the top of the key a few minutes later that didn’t go, but it wasn’t a bad shot. Call it a respectable miss.
Some coaches might not love the idea of their 6-foot-11 backup center, who was brought in to own the glass, launching treys — but not Nick Nurse. In fact, Nurse has been steadfast in saying he believes there’s a lot more to Drummond’s game.
“He can shoot ‘em, so yeah, we’re working on ‘em for sure,” Nurse said. “I think there’s moments where you can find some space for him, if you’re playing against a rim protector … but I think he can shoot ‘em. From what I’ve known for a while, he’s a lot more skilled than maybe he’s ever shown. He just kind of rebounds and hands the ball off all the time, but he’s got some ball skill, he’s got some passing skill, he’s got some shooting skill that we’ll keep working on.”
The expectation is that Drummond will do what he does by being a traditional big who owns the glass — a huge need for this Sixers lineup.
The concern comes when a team goes small in the minutes Drummond is in to spell Embiid. Mobility is also a concern when you look at how Jalen Brunson and the Knicks put the Sixers’ centers in a bind in the pick-and-roll last postseason.
The hope for the Sixers is Drummond punishes any smaller bigs in his path. There is no center near the top of the East that can match Drummond’s rebounding prowess. The Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson might give him a fight, but New York’s backup big man will miss significant time to start the season.
As for the mobility, Drummond doesn’t see it as an issue. Nurse spoke postgame about the team’s desire to push the pace more this season considering the lightning-quick Tyrese Maxey is running the show and the team now employs multiple hyper-athletic wings.
Drummond believes that style will play to his strengths.
“[Nurse] wants to get the ball up the court fast, get up shots quick,” Drummond said. “For me that’s great because not too many bigs want to have that rat race every possession. So for me it’s an advantage with me being in shape and being able to rebound the ball on misses with Tyrese Maxey running and getting layups and open shots — it makes our offense very dangerous.”
When asked which attributes make one a good “small-ball big,” Drummond scoffed at the question. It makes sense — Drummond was a two-time All-Star and considered one of the best bigs in the game. He only recently turned 31 and has been relegated to being a backup center because of how the league’s landscape has changed.
Still, the evolution of small-ball bigs “doesn’t really phase” him. He can still play at a high level. Despite his limitations, he has the ability to give the Sixers their best backup center minutes since the last time he was here and provide starter-caliber minutes when Embiid misses time.
So, in a game that’s ever-evolving, Drummond is shooting threes now — and he’s happy to be doing so in Philly.
“Being in Philly again is exciting for me,” he said. “A lot of my close friends are here. We got Paul [George] here. One of my best friends in the world, Reggie Jackson, is here too so that makes the situation even more sweet. I was already happy to be back here, but just these additions, these key pieces, have made this decision very, very good for me.”