Andre Drummond: UConn Star Is Biggest Boom/Bust Pick in Entire NBA Draft
The NBA draft is always a gamble, but nobody has a bigger ceiling/floor than UConn’s Andre Drummond.
On the one hand he is 6’10’’ and 251 pounds and has all of the physical tools to be a monster in the paint. He was the consensus No. 2 recruit heading into his freshman season and produced solid numbers on the glass (7.6) and with blocked shots (2.7).
He isn’t turning 19 until August, meaning he’ll be the second youngest prospect in the draft. He shot 52 percent in his lone season as a Huskie, and made the Big East’s All-Rookie team.
So that sounds great, but is he worth the No. 2 pick…or even the No. 22 pick?
He ranked 76th in points per-40 minutes among the 85 collegiate players in Draftexpress.com’s top-100 prospects ranking, and was 47th in PER.
Oh, by the way, he shot a putrid 29.5 percent from the charity strike.
All of the other top prospects aside from the fearsome fivesome of Kentucky averaged well over the 10.2 points he registered in his lone season of college. A huge red flag was his abysmal performance against Iowa State in the NCAA tournament.
He registered a whopping two points and three rebounds as he seemed to get outplayed in every facet of the game by fellow 2012 draft prospect Royce White, who finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds in that game.
White is projected to go in the late 20s, so why in the world should we believe Drummond is going to be so much better?
One word: potential.
Drummond has the potential to develop a solid low post game with the proper coaching, and is already a prolific shot blocker. He has the potential to become an elite rebounder, but will likely have to shed some of the baby fat in exchange for some serious muscle.
But when you consider that a vast majority of his buckets in college came on alley oops around the bucket, it makes you wonder how long it will take for him to develop post moves…and how long of a leash he’ll get from a team to do it.
Teams in the lottery are there for a reason; they need to beef up their team in a hurry and typically can’t afford to let Drummond meddle away at the end of the bench for three years.
Drummond is a gigantic gamble who is going to either save a GM’s job or cost him it. There is no in-between.
Is your team willing to roll the dice?
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
