Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond will participate in the 2019 USA Basketball training camp in August. The four-day minicamp will take place from Aug. 5-8 under the tutelage of head coach Gregg Popovich, as Team USA will prepare to head to China from late August to mid-September for the FIBA World Cup. Drummond is one of four centers selected to take part in the camp, alongside Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers, Brook Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks and Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans.
This isn't Drummond's first time competing for his country, as the former UConn Huskie played for Team USA in the 2014 World Cup along with fellow 2019 invitees Davis and James Harden. Drummond played a very small role on that squad, as he only averaged 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per game of playing time. Still, he knows what it's like to focus in as a team, join together, and wallop on other countries to claim the global title.
There's a lot of time between now and the Aug. 17 final roster deadline for Drummond to recover from the 2018-19 NBA season and get himself in optimal shape to fight for another gold. But this time around, Drummond is likely to not only make the roster, but also have an expanded role with Team USA.
He's likely to see his role on the 2019 team increase because he's coming off his best statisical NBA season, as he averaged a career-high 17.3 points per game while leading the league with a commanding 15.6 rebounds per game. Drummond also reached his career high in offensive rebounds per game (5.4) and his second-highest season totals in defensive rebounds per game (10.2) and free-throw percentage (59%).
The statistics show that Drummond is a much better player than he was at the end of the 2014 season when he competed for Team USA. While he only slightly boosted his numbers in points (13.5) and rebounds per (13.2), he is a much better free-throw shooter than he was in 2014 (41.8% in the 2013-14 NBA season).
This increased ability to hit free throws means that international squads won't be able to enforce the Hack-A-Drummond strategy that kept him on the bench for some of the 2014 World Cup. If a team were to play a skilled 7-footer at the end of a close game, Drummond should be able to stay in the game to guard him, grab rebounds and help other US players get open on offense.
The two-time All-Star spent a lot more time out on the perimeter in 2019 than in recent years, screening often for guards like Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard while receiving the ball in a Nikola Jokic-esque role in the high post to help facilitate the offense.
At 6-foot-11 and 280 pounds, Drummond possesses the ideal size to get his smaller teammates open, as he'll get a chance to play with elite guards such as Harden, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards and Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers.
All three of those aforementioned players can run the pick-and-roll with Drummond, which will not only help these skilled guards get open off Drummond's avid screen knowledge and quick feet rolling to the rim, but it will also help Drummond improve on the offensive end and provide more offense for the Pistons in the 2019-20 season.
While it is likely that six-time All-Star Anthony Davis will be the starting big for Team USA, Drummond just got done posting career highs in points per 40 minutes (20.7) and PER (23.49) in a season where the Pistons made the playoffs, so he's more than capable of coming off the bench and providing the squad with a veteran presence who can get scorers open on offense and be an anchor on defense.
Detroit Pistons fans should not only be excited to see Drummond's role increase in China come mid-August, but also hope that he can take some of the skills he learns on the other side of the world with him and have a career year this upcoming NBA season to earn his third All-Star appearance.
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