CLEVELAND – The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired center Andre Drummond from the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard Brandon Knight, forward/center John Henson and the less favorable of Cleveland and Golden State’s 2023 second-round draft picks, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced today.
Drummond (6-11, 279) has played in 49 games (48 starts) for Detroit this season, averaging a career-best 17.8 points on .530 shooting from the field, an NBA-leading 15.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, a career-high 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks in a career-high 33.8 minutes per game. The two-time All-Star leads the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (4.6), defensive rebounds per game (11.2) and double-doubles (42) this season. Drummond also ranks 16th in the NBA in field goal percentage (.530) and is the only player in the NBA to rank in the Top 10 in both steals per game (2.0-third) and blocks per game (1.7-10th). He has tallied an NBA-leading 22 games with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds, including a career-high tying five straight games from Oct. 28-Nov. 4, and has recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in 16 contests this season (tied for the most such games in the NBA). Additionally, Drummond has an NBA-leading nine games with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds this season and leads the NBA in 20+ rebound outings (12).
Drummond has spent his entire eight-year career with Detroit after being drafted by the Pistons out of the University of Connecticut with the ninth overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. The two-time NBA All-Star (2016, 2018) owns career averages of 14.4 points on .541 shooting from the field, 13.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.6 blocks in 31.1 minutes per game over 591 career contests (540 starts). He has recorded 81 career 20-rebound games, 41 career 20-point/20-rebound games, three career 25-point/25-rebound games and three career 30-point/20-rebound games. Drummond also appeared in two postseason berths with the Pistons, averaging 15.5 points on .481 shooting, 11.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 32.3 minutes over eight games (all starts) in the 2016 and 2019 playoffs. He was named to the 2012-13 NBA All-Rookie Second Team and 2015-16 All-NBA Third Team, and was the NBA’s leading rebounder in 2016, 2018 and 2019.
Knight (6-2, 182), who was acquired by Cleveland on Feb. 7, 2019, played in 43 games (26 starts) and averaged 7.2 points and 2.2 assists in 20.0 minutes per game. Henson (6-9, 222) appeared in 29 games (two starts) for the Cavaliers after being acquired via trade on Dec. 7, 2018, averaging 5.0 points on .508 shooting from the field, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 14.2 minutes per game.