After a few weeks of rumors that were seemingly connecting the two parties together more and more with each report, the Los Angeles Lakers will finally be bringing in Andre Drummond. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers will be signing Drummond after he had meetings with other contenders. He was bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers following the trade deadline.
The Lakers were reported to be “strong frontrunners” to sign Drummond earlier on Saturday.
Andre Drummond was in the midst of his second season with the Cavs before the buyout, averaging 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks on 28.9 minutes per game. He was traded to the Cavs from the Detroit Pistons during last season, only playing eight games for the Cavs during the 2019-20 campaign before COVID-19 suspended the season. He was drafted by Detroit in 2012, playing eight seasons with them.
Drummond will come to the Lakers to provide frontcourt size for them with Anthony Davis out. Drummond will be tasked with replacing the rim protection and rebounding missing with Davis out, and may very well start for the Lakers when he joins the team depending on how Frank Vogel will want to approach lineups with Gasol and Drummond out there without Davis. He also presents a vertical option on the offensive end for some alley-oops, a player role that the Lakers really haven’t had on this team when Davis sits out. JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard provided these exact things that Drummond will theoretically bring to the team.
However, his overall effectiveness in these areas has started to decline in recent years (especially in regards to finishing at the rim as he has a 47.4% field-goal percentage this season compared to 53.3% during the 2019-20 season). He may not provide the value expected by some Lakers fans, but either way, this is nearly a riskless option for the Lakers after the buyout and will at least help them with size until Davis gets back.
