Why the Detroit Pistons should move Andre Drummond

2) Max Him or Lose Him

Andre Drummond has a player option available to him at the end of this year to stay with the Pistons for $28 mil, which he is almost certain to decline. The summer of 2020 free agent class is a particularly weak one, and Drummond will be far and away the top prize. With the star center headlining the free agent class, he’s sure to draw a max offer from a few teams, meaning the Pistons would have to match that in order to keep him around.

Maxing out Drummond seems extreme, right? Yes, he’s a factor on the court and will make any team better, but the Pistons have already shown they don’t have the ability to put a team around him that compliments his strengths, and paying him that much will only maker it harder to do so. Giving Drummond the max doesn’t make sense for the Pistons, short or long term, so it would be wise to avoid that at all costs.

So, let’s say they decide not to max him out, now if you don’t trade him, he leaves in free agency for nothing. Drummond leaves your team, and you get nothing at all in return for him while he takes the court for another team. Clearly this route doesn’t make a ton of sense for the team, either.

Drummond is a great basketball player, but this is one of the reasons why it only makes sense to trade him now, before we get nothing at all.