ANDRE DRUMMOND
AGE: 22
NBA EXPERIENCE: 4 seasons
BECAME A PISTON: The Pistons used the No. 9 pick in the 2012 NBA draft to select Andre Drummond after he declared for the draft following his freshman season at Connecticut.
CAREER MILESTONES: Drummond was widely projected a top-two pick with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis before the 2011-12 college season began, but an underwhelming freshman season left scouts divided as to his NBA future. But there were a slew of mitigating factors, including the suspension of coach Jim Calhoun and Drummond’s delayed arrival on campus due to the fact he reclassified late that summer instead of spending a final year at prep school. Only 18 on draft night, Drummond exceeded first-year expectations, a season marred only by a 20-game absence due to a back injury. He has missed only one game due to injury in the past three seasons. Drummond advanced so quickly that he earned a berth on Team USA for the 2014 FIBA World Cup. He earned his first NBA All-Star berth in 2015-16 and led the league in rebounding at 14.8 a game.
CAREER ARC: Perhaps the most amazing thing about Drummond is that he’s risen to All-Star status and still has so much room for improvement in a number of areas. He’s shown remarkable progress as a back-to the-basket scorer, flashing the ability to score with either hand on jump hooks, but continued gains with his footwork will make him even more effective. He shows stretches of dominant rim protection but greater awareness and greater attention to communication as the defensive quarterback will make him an elite defender. His foul shooting, obviously, has ample room for improvement after a .355 2015-16 performance that lowered his career mark to .380. Improved focus on consistently rolling hard to the basket in pick-and-roll situations will make him an even more inviting target for lob dunks.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Throw a dart and pick a game. Drummond led the NBA in double-doubles with 66, 12 more than runner-up Russell Westbrook. Drummond posted consecutive 20-20 games in the first week of the season with 20 points and 20 rebounds in a win over Chicago and 25 points and 29 rebounds in a loss to Indiana. He had 29 points and 27 rebounds when the Pistons came from 19 points down to win by 17 at Portland. In other November wins, he had 25 points and 18 boards against Cleveland and 18 and 20 against Miami. In a four-overtime win at Chicago in December, Drummond had a career-high 33 points plus 21 rebounds. When the Pistons beat Golden State by 18 points, Drummond had 14 points and 21 rebounds. He had 25 points and 17 boards in a critical March win at Dallas and played one of his best defensive games in an 18-point, 14-rebound, three-block outing as the Pistons knocked off Charlotte at the height of their March playoff drive.
2016-17 ROLE: To some extent, the Rules Committee will have a hand in how much, if at all, Drummond’s role changes next season. Any tightening of restrictions on intentional fouling off the ball will make it easier to keep Drummond on the floor at times he struggles to make half of his free throws. Drummond, of course, will have a say in how his role changes, too. Stan Van Gundy said as the season ended that the team and Drummond will take steps to improve his foul shooting. If Drummond had made half his free throws, his scoring average would have gone from 16.2 to 17.3 per game and the Pistons would have more than doubled their per-game scoring differential from 0.6 to 1.6. Beyond foul shooting and its impact on his role, look for Van Gundy to continue to build the roster and the playbook around him to maximize his ability to score above the rim by looking for every opportunity to create space around him with improved perimeter shooting and use of multiple playmakers and ballhandlers.
CONTRACT STATUS: Drummond will be a restricted free agent on July 1 but there is every expectation he and the Pistons will come to swift agreement on a new contract that will keep him with the franchise for the foreseeable future.