What Detroit Pistons Need from Andre Drummond This Season
The Detroit Pistons have missed the playoffs the past five seasons, and they will need a monster season from Andre Drummond to have a chance at ending that drought.
Though last season's Pistons were a major disappointment, Drummond was their lone bright spot. In just his second NBA season, he averaged 13.5 points, 13.2 assists, 1.6 blocks, 1.2 steals and had a player efficiency rating of 22.65. And at 6'11" and 279 pounds with phenomenal athleticism, the 21-year-old projects to be one of the best big men in the league for years to come.
Drummond was part of the gold medal-winning Team USA squad this summer, and he's already shown the ability to change games at both ends of the court. But he must be more consistent and assertive this season. If he doesn't play like one of the best 25 players in the NBA, the Pistons will almost certainly find their season over when the playoffs begin.
Increased Offensive Role
In his second season, Drummond scored over 13 points per game and shot 62.3 percent from the field, but he was little more than an afterthought in the Pistons offense.
Playing next to Brandon Jennings, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith, he was at best the team's fourth option. Almost all of his baskets came around the rim—701 of his 769 field goals (91.2 percent) came from within five feet of the basket, per NBA.com. And most of that action came from finishing lobs or putting back offensive rebounds, not on offense that Drummond created by himself.
None of that on its own is a bad thing. Drummond's ability to finish around the rim keeps his defender from leaving in help defense. And being a very good offensive rebounder helps the Pistons get extra possessions. But at this point, his low-post game is almost nonexistent.
If Drummond can develop his game to the point where he has a couple of effective post moves, not only will he score more points, but he'll also command more double-teams. That in turn will free up shooters and make the Detroit offense more effective overall.
Drummond's ability to knock down free throws also must improve from his first two seasons. He's never made more than 41.8 percent of his freebies. If that doesn't increase, it won't really matter how much his post game has developed—teams will just be able to send him to the line. And he'll be too much of a liability for Stan Van Gundy to use him down the stretch of games.
Drummond doesn't need to be a dominant low-post scorer this season for the Pistons to make the playoffs. But he does have to be a bigger part of the offense; he needs to be good enough down low for opposing teams to worry about him scoring in one-on-one situations. And he has to knock down significantly more free throws to keep opponents honest.
All-NBA Defensive Team-Type Season
When you watch Drummond play basketball, it's easy to fantasize about a young Shaquille O'Neal and the dominant scoring ability that comes with the comparison. But Drummond's potential to change games is currently much greater at the defensive end.
His physical tools make him look like a taller version of Dwight Howard: a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. He has everything necessary to become an elite shot-blocker who can also defend any opposing big man one-on-one. He has the rare combination of lateral quickness, leaping ability and strength that can make him the best defensive player in the league.
The Pistons need him to make big strides this season toward becoming that player.
Drummond is already on this end of the court, if on raw ability alone. His season in rebounds, blocks and steals has been duplicated only 13 other times (by seven total players) in NBA history, per Basketball-Reference.com. That alone tells you just how unique of a defensive talent Drummond is; men of his size should not be able to do the things physically that he is capable of.
But for Drummond, it's a matter of getting better at defensive fundamentals, which may not show up in a stat sheet.
For one, Drummond was a pretty mediocre one-on-one defender last season. Opposing centers posted a PER of 19.2 against him, per 82games.com. As a premier shot-blocker, he was susceptible to biting on shot fakes, which led to easy baskets or drawn fouls. He too often was exposed as a defender by veteran players, as was the case in a December loss to Howard and the Houston Rockets.
Howard scored 35 points in 40 minutes on 13-of-18 shooting, the bulk of which came against Drummond. It was arguably the young center's worst defensive performance of the season and the best piece of evidence to show that physical gifts can only take a player so far.
"It was a baptism NBA-style, a trial by fire of the worst and most painful kind," Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News wrote following the game.
To be fair, Drummond improved throughout the season, as you'd expect from a 20-year-old. And his defense was good enough this summer to impress arguably the best defensive coach in the league.
“He’s gotten better and better,” said Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, per Keith Langlois of NBA.com. “He’s done a great job here. There’s a lot of things he does you really can’t teach—great instincts around the basket, his ability to react to the ball and protect the rim."
That is the kind of player the Pistons need on a nightly basis. They need the rim protection, the forced turnovers and crisp rotations. And they need a guy who can go toe-to-toe with the best big men in the league and come out ahead.
With the type of numbers he puts up and a relatively weak Eastern Conference, it would be a bit of a surprise if Drummond were not an All-Star this season. And if Thibodeau is correct, then votes for the All-NBA Defensive teams should also come.
That is the kind of performance the Pistons will need from Drummond if they plan to make some noise this season. Not too much to ask from a player who just turned 21, right?
Jakub Rudnik covers the Detroit Pistons as a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Follow him on Twitter.
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