New Trade Rumors: Andre Drummond to the Clippers?
Trade rumors for the 26 year-old Center seemed to have died down after the inital report from Woj that said that the Hawks and Pistons had been in trade talks. Since then, several other teams including the Knicks and Celtics had reported interest in the NBA’s top rebounder as well.
Those three teams thought that the asking price for Drummond was too high. The Pistons reportedly wanted a First Round pick for Drummond, but no teams were willing to give that up for three months of Andre Drummond.
The trade talks for Drummond has seemingly died down, until recently, another team had reported interest. The Los Angeles Clippers reportedly are interested in Andre and may be willing to throw in a First Round pick. There’s a lot of gray area in the talks between the two franchises, and a deal is far from guaranteed, but the possibility of Drummond becoming a Clipper is far from out of the picture.
LAC’s current starting Center is the 22 year-old Ivica Zubac, though Montezl Harrell does get the bulk of the minutes off the bench. Zubac only gets about 18 minutes per game and Harell is 6’7. Andre Drummond would be a major upgrade to start at Center as the Clippers struggle against teams with dominant bigs, such as Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis. They’re going to need someone bigger, which is where an Andre Drummond trade comes in. Drummond is the greatest rebounder in the league and is one of the better paint defenders. Aside from shooting, Drummond is pretty solid in every aspect of his game.
A trade for the two-time All-Star would look like this:
The Detroit Pistons receive two key assets in this trade. Ivica Zubac is only 22 years-old and has proven himself to be a solid starting Center in the NBA. In just 17.8 points per game, Zubac is averaging 8.0 points and 7.1 rebounds. Detroit Pistons coach Dwayne Casey is one of the best player development coaches in the league, developing the likes of Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Fred Vanvleet. Zubac has potential that can be reached even further under Dwayne Casey. With his young age and friendly contract, he could also possibly be their Center of the future so that Detroit only will have to deal with the Point Guard situation in the offseason. They also receive LAC’s first round pick. After the Drummond trade, the pick may indeed be the 30th overall, but a pick is a pick. Jimmy Butler was drafted 30th, so who knows. In weaker draft classes, there tends to be more steals.
The Clippers have gone all-out in win-now mode, trading all of their future picks to get Paul George, so why not go all the way? The Clippers acquiring Drummond would give them that big man that can guard anybody. This season, Drummond has 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks. He has the most steals out of any Center in the NBA and ranks ninth in the NBA for blocks. His defense isn’t as good as those numbers show, but he is a very good defender and would be dangerous playing with Montezl Harrell. Harrell is capable of playing the Power Forward, so there are lineups that could consist of Williams, George, Leonard, Harrell and Drummond. That would make for one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA. Their finishing lineup could also replace Williams with Beverley to make possibly the best defensive since the Goin’ to Work Pistons. Drummond could be the missing piece that could elevate the Clippars, and put them in the conversation to beat the Lakers.
The Clippers need to make a move to compete with the Lakers. Los Angeles is the clear better team so far this season and the Clippers are in much worse shape for the future. Not getting a championship would be considered a failure for that era. LAC may not trade for Andre Drummond, but they will make a move to bolster their roster before the trade deadline strikes.
