The Los Angeles Lakers signed veteran center Andre Drummond after he was bought out from the Cleveland Cavaliers midseason. At the time, the acquisition seemed extremely confusing. After all, the Lakers have Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell, and Anthony Davis, so the addition of Drummond was a head-scratcher.
While it was essentially pegged as a one-year rental before Drummond hits the free-agent market in the summer, it appears that the Lakers could have bigger plans for Drummond, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
“…obviously he gets more than just ceremonial minutes. That seems to be something that is important to Drummond, which makes it important to the Lakers' front office because they have signaled to everyone listening, ‘This isn't just a half a season buyout market rental. Andre Drummond is part of the future moving forward with this franchise,” MeMenamin said on The Lowe Post.
Well, this is something. The pairing of Davis and Drummond has been a mixed bag. At times it has worked well, and at times it hasn't. Another interesting thing to note is that the Lakers are in a tough spot financially this summer.
The Lakers have decisions to make, mainly regarding Talen Horton-Tucker, so re-signing Drummond doesn't entirely make a ton of sense especially if he wants a big contract. The Lakers would basically need to use the MLE to retain Drummond, and the question remains if he would actually take that money or aim for a bigger, potentially max deal in the offseason.
On paper, the pairing of Davis and Drummond is a scary sight. Lately, Davis has looked much better when he runs at the center position, and Lakers fans have become extremely frustrated with Frank Vogel's neverending insistence to start Drummond, despite his occasional production.
This summer will be interesting in Los Angeles, to say the least.