The Detroit Pistons did end up trading Andre Drummond before the trade deadline on Thursday, sending him to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Brandon Knight, John Henson and a second-round draft pick.
So basically, the Pistons dealt Drummond for a second-round pick.
Ouch.
Now obviously, Drummond was going to be difficult to move regardless. He is earning $27 million this season, making him an incredibly difficult salary to match. Plus, he can opt out and become a free agent this summer.
But still…a second-round pick for a guy averaging 18 and 16?
This isn't just about Drummond's salary or his impending free agency. This is about teams simply not valuing him, and that is not a good sign for him this summer.
Traditional bigs are going by the wayside in the NBA. That much is known. But you would figure there would still be room for a guy who can represent a great pick-and-roll threat and can dominate the glass like no one else in the league.
However, for as good as Andre Drummond is in those areas, his deficiencies far outweigh his positives.
He can't shoot. He doesn't have a post game. He doesn't make his free throws. He misses rotations defensively. He can't defend all that well in space. He is a net negative.
Teams are clearly well-aware of all of Drummond's drawbacks, rendering the chances of him landing a max deal this coming offseason fairly slim.
I won't go as far to say he will end up being like DeMarcus Cousins during the summer of 2018, who was coming off of a torn Achilles and ended up having to settle for a cheap one-year deal with the Golden State Warriors, but that is honestly the closest comparison I can think of.
Will Andre Drummond end up with nothing other than a one-year, $5 million deal? Certainly not. Someone, somewhere, will surely offer him a multi-year deal. But it won't be for the type of money Drummond is expecting, which, ironically enough, is why opting in to the final year of his contract and guaranteeing himself $28.8 million next season may not be the worst idea.
He won't do it, but it's something he probably should explore if he wants to maximize his earnings.
The jig is up with centers who can't spread the floor and who don't possess a ton of defensive versatility. Heck, the Houston Rockets just traded away Clint Capela, whose defensive chops are quite a bit better than Drummond's.
A decade ago, Drummond would have an incredibly valuable commodity, but unfortunately for the 26-year-old, the game has change significantly, and the NBA's transformation began shortly after he was drafted out of UConn in 2012.
That's not his fault. Drummond didn't know the entire landscape of the league was going to be altered under his feet. He is just a victim of circumstance, and now, he must face the harsh reality that every other traditional big in the NBA must face.
Drummond is one of the last of a dying breed. Maybe one day, the big man will make a return, but right now, in 2020, he is essentially useless in a league that is ruled by space and pace, and that will be clear as day when Andre Drummond enters the free-agent market this summer and doesn't get quite as many phone calls as he would have thought.
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