We’ve highlighted a few Detroit Pistons who we are looking forward to seeing most already.
My pick? Andre Drummond.
The Pistons have bet it all on center Andre Drummond.
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The ninth-pick of the 2012 NBA Draft came into the league as a raw, yet intriguing prospect. Drummond had, and still does have, great athleticism for an NBA center. He was nowhere near a polished offensive player coming out of Connecticut, but the physical tools were too much to pass up on.
Three years later, Drummond is the centerpiece of the Detroit Pistons franchise. With the departure of Greg Monroe, Drummond will now be a featured player on the offensive end. He has a few shooters around him in guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, forward Marcus Morris and forward Ersan Ilyasova. He also has a an $80 million point guard in Reggie Jackson that figures to feed the ball to Drummond on pick-and-rolls throughout the season.
It’s all there for Drummond, but will he take advantage of it and rise to the occasion?
Drummond has improved somewhat offensively throughout his two years in Detroit but the statistics show that 2013-2014 was a better season offensively for the big man than last season. In 2013-2014, Drummond posted an offensive win shares of 6.4 and 62.3 percent from the field. Last season, Drummond shot just 51.4 percent and had an offensive win shares of 3.4. Drummond was excellent on the offensive end his sophomore season, finishing with the fourth best offensive rating in the NBA at 121.2.
The most likely reason that Drummond’s percentage dropped that much is due to his increased role in the offense last season. Drummond’s usage rate in 2013-2014 was a relatively low 16.7 percent. Last season, however, Drummond’s usage rate jumped to 22 percent. Almost a quarter of the team’s offensive plays went through Drummond.
Drummond must become more efficient on the offensive end. Head coach Stan Van Gundy is going to ask a lot from Drummond this season. He will serve as a primary option on offense and his movement and success on the floor could allow other guys to contribute more.
Rebounding isn’t an issue. Drummond has lead the league in offensive rebounds the last two seasons and his total rebounding percentage (24 percent) was second in the NBA last year.
Drummond is also fulfilling his defensive potential. He blocked 153 shots, which was good enough for fifth in the NBA. Drummond also finished eighth in defensive win shares with 4.3.
The goal for Drummond this season is to become like Clippers center DeAndre Jordan. Both are already horrendous free-throw shooters, but Drummond could easily impact the game as much as Jordan does. The case could also be made that Drummond is well on his way to becoming better than Jordan.
For their careers, Drummond leads Jordan in total rebounding percentage, turnover percentage, points per game and PER. Drummond also isn’t far behind in offensive rating and in block percentage.
Jordan is a better player than Drummond is right now, but it won’t stay that way for long. For the Pistons’ sake, Drummond better make the leap sooner rather than later. There are pieces in place, it’s up to him to deliver.
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