Drummond ranks ninth in latest All-Star returns

Fresh off a 22-point, 20-rebound performance, Andre Drummond is ninth amongst All-Star voting for Eastern Conference frontcourt players. The 24-year-old is averaging 14.4 points, 15.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Fan voting concludes on Jan. 15.

The NBA announced the second returns of fan voting for the 2018 All-Star Game on Thursday afternoon. Detroit Pistons’ center Andre Drummond was one of the top vote-getters for the second straight week.

Drummond finished with 139,226 votes, good enough for ninth amongst Eastern Conference frontcourt players. However, in order to be a starter, he would need to finish in the top three.

That’s not likely. But fortunately for Drummond, the final seven players will be selected by the coaches.

Drummond is sure to make his second All-Star appearance this February. He leads the league in defensive rebound percentage (36.2) and total rebound percentage (26.0). Only DeAndre Jordan (602) has snagged more boards this season than Drummond (571).

The 6″11′ center has greatly improved his free throw percentage. Before this season, Drummond was a career 38 percent free throw shooter. He is shooting 62 percent from the line in 2017-18. That’s an unprecedented turnaround in just one year. The Hack-A-Dre strategy is officially dead.

Of course, it also helps when a player adds to his offensive weaponry. Drummond has excelled running the dribble hand-off, which has diversified the Pistons’ attack.

He has evolved from being solely a roll-man to a trusted decision-maker with the basketball. Opposing teams aren’t quite sure how to guard him, because they’ve never seen this type of Drummond before. Up until this season, the Pistons hadn’t either.

His assists average this season of 3.8 is more than triple his career average of 1.0. Not only has Drummond been looking to score, he’s been looking to pass just as often. This overall improvement is one of the main reasons why the Pistons are 22-18.

Fans can vote for Drummond via NBA.com, the NBA App, Twitter, Facebook, Google Search and Amazon Alexa. The polls close at 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 15.