Andre Drummond didn’t go too far this offseason in free agency.
The veteran center spent the last few seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, but over the summer, he signed with the New York Knicks.
It had to seem like a great opportunity for Drummond, who joined the defending champs and had to take over the backup center role from Mitchell Robinson, who left for the Boston Celtics.
There’s certainly the potential for Drummond to be important as the season goes along. Karl-Anthony Towns gets in plenty of foul trouble.
In fact, that’s what helped make Drummond’s debut with the Knicks so interesting. Yes, it was against his former 76ers team, but it also had a few fascinating elements.
Andre Drummond’s Immediate Impact
KAT played just a couple of minutes on Tuesday night before picking up two fouls and heading to the bench.
That brought Drummond in the game earlier than planned. And before the game was halfway through the second quarter, Drummond had a double-double, getting to 10 points and 11 rebounds at one point after playing about a dozen minutes.
It showed the Robinson-like tendency by Drummond to hit the glass with reckless abandon and beat everyone to the basketball. It also coincided with a spot in the game that the Knicks were winning.
New York eventually lost, though, and the night got worse for Drummond individually, as well.
Andre Drummond’s Final Stats
Drummond finished the night with 12 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. It was quite the well-rounded stat line.
It came in 24 minutes, though, meaning he hardly did anything in his second dozen minutes that he played.
He also shot just 5-for-13 from the field and 2-for-4 from the line. The foul shots aren’t a surprise, but Drummond is a career 53.9% shooter in the NBA, mostly because he takes a lot of easy ones. His inefficiency on this night definitely proved costly.
Drummond also didn’t attempt a 3-pointer, which is a subplot that Knicks fans may not have even realized they needed to watch. But last season, Drummond attempted 1.4 3s per game for the 76ers while making 35.6% of them.
So all in all, Drummond had a fascinating debut, including a tangle with LeBron James that led to some giggles by both veterans. It’ll be intriguing to see where Drummond and the Knicks go from here after the 76ers got the better of them in the opener.
Andre Drummond Left 76ers for Knicks, Setting Up Odd Debut Performance