The Sixers signed Andre Drummond over the offseason to serve as Joel Embiid‘s backup, effectively replacing Dwight Howard.
Drummond will bring great rebounding, but he has other ideas on how Doc Rivers will use him.
“Anybody that knows Doc, you know the way that he plays,” Drummond said. “He plays through his bigs to get his guards open — a lot of dribble handoffs; pick-and-rolls; down screens to get his shooters open. That’s something I’m very good at, is screening.
Defensively, I think it will be very fun for me to be active on the pick-and-rolls to get steals on the pocket passes, be able to be aggressive and to trap the ball more — and even to drop back, be in a drop for the team, too, and rim protect. It’s a no-brainer to be on this team and I’m excited to do it.”
Drummond can find his open teammates from the high and low post, but in order for an offense to thrive, it’s best if the Sixers don’t run plays through Drummond with the sole intention of him trying to score the ball.
Defensively, Drummond did average 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game last season, but there were several instances where he was burned down low on a switch or when trying to close in on an opponent driving to the rim.
If the Sixers can keep Drummond from serving as the last line of defense and surround him with shooters on offense, then he should be an asset for them next season.
