Andre Drummond made the best financial decision of his career when he bought his $ 28.7 million option last off-season. The following period of free agency was particularly unkind for tall men. Only two centers Anthony Davis and Christian Wood, got more than the middle exception. That’s where Serge Ibaka, Derrick favors and Montrezl Harrell done. All three fit the winners more easily.
27-year-old Drummond ducked into a market that has become a perennial buyer’s market for centers, but at some point he always had to face it. Now he has such a massive contract that few teams have the chance to act for it, let alone the interest. But now that Cleveland is settled Jarrett Allen as its long term starter it is looking for one of the few possible offers on the table.
By declaring this publicly, the Cavaliers have sacrificed how little leverage they might have had. Drummond has value in a vacuum, but $ 30 million backups are few and far between, and only a select few teams will want to make the sacrifices necessary to win it. Any team doing this needs to either be in urgent need of immediate help (including rental) or consider Drummond as a potential long-term starter at the center. Only a small number of teams check both boxes. Here are the five most logical among them.
The Raptors are the only team known to have shown interest in Drummond to date. Here’s the problem: You don’t have the right salary. Suppose Toronto’s young trio of Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby is sacrosanct, several RPG players would have to be stacked to reach Drummond’s level. These players are more than just filler. A pack of Chris Boucher, Aron Baynes and Norman Powell, for example, would go legal on March 3rd, but is Drummond more valuable as an expiring contract than Boucher or Powell? Probably not. There is no version of a Drummond trade where the Raptors do not seriously forego cash value.
There is a solution to this, but it is an expensive one. Toronto could easily reach Drummond’s salary by including Kyle Lowry in a deal. Cleveland, with Collin Sexton and Darius Garland Lowry probably wouldn’t be valued on the spot, but a multitude of competitors could strike a three-team deal. For example, let’s say Toronto sent Lowry to Philadelphia for draft picks. You could take Drummond back from that 76erswho could send the expiring contracts from Danny Green, Terrance Ferguson and Mike Scott back to Cleveland.
However, this is not a light-hearted move. Lowry is a franchise icon, and trading with him would likely only be done with his approval and in recognition that both sides would be better off going on. Doing this for Drummond would essentially be a bet on its fit as their long-term center and would essentially mean sacrificing their space for the 2021 cap. If the Raptors believe Drummond can be an integral part of their forecourt, it is worth considering.
Charlotte swung and missed Harrell, and his forecourt was a mess as a result. The 6-foot-7 PJ Washington plays significant minutes in the middle. This plan is not defensively tenable. Drummond is no Rudy Gobert, but it offers stability that hornets sorely lack. It’s time for that Cody Zeller Era come to an end.
It is fair, therefore, that he would likely be providing the bulk of Charlotte’s suitable salary for this deal. Malik monk and Bismack Biyombo could do the rest. That’s hardly an exciting return for a former All-Star, but remember, Cleveland only swapped round two selections and an expiring salary to get Drummond in the first place. The Cavs weren’t making a big investment, and neither would the Hornets. Drummond would take up most of their place this off-season, but if they could sign him on a team-friendly deal, they could still work beyond him enough to add a meaningful piece to their rotation.
We have now reached the rental part of the procedure. This would be pretty quick. The Knicks lost the starting center Mitchell Robinson to a broken hand on Friday. They have since won their two games, but lost the relaxing bout in both and were outpaced in color by Atlanta on Monday. your Derrick Rose The deal signaled a serious desire to stay in the playoff race. So if you don’t believe in it Nerlens Noel As a replacement for Robinson, Drummond is a stylistically similar replacement.
The Knicks have two great advantages in chasing Drummond. The first is her recent frugality. The Knicks have $ 17 million cap space and a hole in their pocket. You could use it to absorb the bulk of Drummond’s deal without sending out almost as much matching salary. The other benefit here is timing. The Knicks might really see this as a month-long step. Get Drummond in the door, start him up until Robinson recovers, then flip him to another interested party by the deadline if he’s not comfortable being Robinson’s backup after that.
Is that particularly likely? No. The Knicks are undefeated without Robinson, after all, and short-term rentals aren’t particularly common in the area NBA. But it’s an option the Knicks might consider. Few other teams have this flexibility.
The Mavericks have been improving lately but are still number 10 on the Western Conference and could use a short-term upgrade. In a perfect world that would come in a different position. Kristaps Porzingis is most valuable as a center as it limits how much perimeter defense he has to play and maximizes ground clearance. But adding another big man could help Dallas keep Porzingis healthy, and the Mavericks rank 24th in rebound rate. Luka Doncic I wouldn’t say no to any other praise threat.
James Johnson’s A high phasing out salary could make up most of the baggage, and Cleveland may be able to acquire additional design capital for a deal through takeover Dwight Powell’s Deal that, unlike Drummond’s, extends beyond this season. With that in mind, Dallas could view trading as both a short-term upgrade and a long-term cap dump. That might not be enough to convince the Mavericks to make a selection for the first round, but perhaps one of their young players could fit into the deal.
This is exactly the kind of movement that the heat doesn’t do. Miami does not pledge any long-term assets for short-term bandages. The Heat learned the dangers of investing serious money in non-shooting statistical hunting centers Hassan Whiteside. Miami has higher ambitions than Drummond.
But the heat has to do something if this season is to be saved. COVID-19 was a good excuse early on, but lost to that Clippers Without four starters, you normally don’t expect anything from a defending final team. For all its shortcomings, Drummond is filling existing holes in Miami. The heat is almost at the end of the league in terms of rebound and color rating. You could use existing tall men Kelly Olynyk and Meyer’s Leonard than her cap filler.
But that would be a significant stylistic change for a Heat team that preferred both games Bam Adebayo in the middle or next to a shooting center. The gap between a Drummond-Adebayo-Jimmy Butler trio would be dangerously close, especially without it Tyler Herro or Duncan Robinson on the ground. Drummond isn’t exactly a cerebral offensive player who’s more suited to the heat.
Again, it’s not a typical heat movement. It might not even be sensible. But the heat fidgets between 11-16. Something must be done to save this season, if the heat is even about winning in 2021. If they are fully focused on their future superstar hunt, Drummond makes little sense. But if they want to take a swing now and prop up some current holes to get a playoff push, there is at least one argument to buy Drummond cheap. It’s probably not one that the Heat would subscribe to, but it does exist.
