Andre Drummond’s Off-season Improvements

As we’re getting nearer and nearer to the start of the season, we’re starting to see more and more about different player’s off-season workouts. You might have seen footage of Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond playing in the Drew League.

Yes it’s just the Drew League, and they don’t seem to be playing proper defense, but Detroit Pistons’ center Andre Drummond is playing with a smile on his face. As well as that, he looks to be quite agile and by appearances looks like he has lost weight.

Andre Drummond’s off-season began with surgery to repair a deviated septum sustained prior to being drafted at Connecticut in 2011. Vince Ellis caught up with Drummond not long after surgery and reported that Drummond said:

"“I’ve been playing with my right nostril for four years because I ended up (injuring my nose) some more after my second season.” He said the deviated septum injury grew worse and breathing became a chore.“This season was probably my toughest breathing year for me,” Drummond said. “It got progressively worse. My allergies were really bad and it was really hard for me to get that wind out there.”"

Since then it’s all been pretty quiet on the Drummond off-season front, until recently. It emerged that Drummond took place in the Drew League, with the highlights of that above. As well as that, Stan Van Gundy recently came out and made some comments about Drummond’s progress this off-season

Is Drummond’s increased “motor” a by-product of his off-season surgery? Probably, but we won’t know until next season. What I do know is that an Andre Drummond that has lost weight and can breathe easier is an encouraging thing for Detroit Pistons fans.

Next: Way-too-early look at next year's Pistons

As well as that, it’s just good to see the kid out there enjoying his basketball again! He really looked like he was taking last season’s play to heart and having him regain that love for the game, bodes well for the coming season.