Drummond highlights

[superjohn]

http://www.slamonline.com/media/sla...at-the-drew-league-video/#q434qaQkg7egtslz.97 Andre is looking huge, Stanley Johnson also looks like a grown man. Weird seeing Isaiah Austin on the court.

 

[HuskyFich]

People called Detroit silly for picking SJ. That guy is going to be a STUD. Mark my words. Has all the tools and the eye of the tiger.

 

[Kembacity]

Good god Andre is such a beast man

 

[BUConn10]

People called Detroit silly for picking SJ. That guy is going to be a STUD. Mark my words. Has all the tools and the eye of the tiger.

They were fools for passing on Winslow.

 

[Yankees32123]

They were fools for passing on Winslow.

S. Johnson is a FAR better prospect than Winslow. Winslow is an undersized 3/4 with not a great shot. Winslow is a 6'7" 245lb physical specimen who's only visible flaw is his low release. He will have a much better career than Winslow.

 

[jfuchs91]

Drummond is a budding star in the NBA.

Last season, at age 21, Andre averaged 13.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, and nearly 3 stocks per game.

This year, for the first time since high school, Drummond will play for the same coach in consecutive seasons, and the Pistons have made it clear that Drummond is the franchise's centerpiece. Drummond has always paired his elite athleticism with a massive frame, but late last season he displayed serious improvement in his post skills.

Stan Van Gundy is building a 4-out-1-in approach around Drummond like he did with Dwight Howard in Orlando. This is the perfect scheme for Drummond, who has already established himself as a historically great rebounder at age 21. He has more 20 rebound games before age 22 than anyone else in NBA history, and is already the best offensive rebounder in league. No other player this millennium has recorded more than 400 offensive boards in a season, and Drummond has done it in two of his three NBA seasons. He was first and second in total rebound% in the past two seasons respectively, and now he no longer plays next to Greg Monroe, who took many rebounds away from him.

It's clear that Drummond provides elite rebounding and rim protection, but I think people underestimate his scoring potential. No, Drummond does not possess a polished offensive repertoire, but he can easily score 10-15 PPG exclusively on lobs and putbacks (again, he's a historically great offensive rebounder. His ability on the offensive boards is seriously impressive). However, as he showed late last season, he has a burgeoning post game, and is still gaining more experience. 2015-2016 will be just his age 22 season, and with Detroit's offensive scheme, he'll have the paint to himself this year, where he can bully pretty much anyone in the league.

Drummond's natural talent has never been in question (his physical gifts are probably top 5 in the league), but he really started to put it together down the stretch last year, and he finally has continuity for the first time in his career. Over the last two months last year he averaged 16/15, and his situation has improved this season.

Free throw shooting is obviously his bugaboo, but he's reportedly been putting in a lot of work this offseason, and the Pistons also just hired the renowned and well-respected Dave Hopla as a shooting coach.

I think Drummond could put up a line this season something like this: 17.5 PPG, 15 RPG, 2 BPG, and a SPG.

Here are some of his highlights from last year. Note how incredibly well he moves for someone of his massive stature.

I think Drummond will be a star in the league, it's just a matter of when.

 

[James]

@jfuchs91 I tend to think his offensive talent is far ahead of what people are naturally inclined to believe, he isn't the sharpest but the man can get creative. For him I think that will come easy with time, but my issue is he isn't nearly as good defensively as he should be. By that I mean positional awareness, anchoring your unit on the floor on d, being the best pick n roll defender in the nba at his position ( he has the tools). And look the guy is young, marc gasol wasn't a defensive savant at 21. But man i'm excited when he gets to that point, orlando magic redux getting to the finals as the best player on your team. lebron wont be around forever.

 

[Yankees32123]

It would be nice to have another top tier star in the league, and Drummond is that potential guy.

 

[mets1090]

@jfuchs91 I tend to think his offensive talent is far ahead of what people are naturally inclined to believe, he isn't the sharpest but the man can get creative. For him I think that will come easily with time, but my issue is he isn't nearly as good defensively as he should be. By that I mean positional awareness, anchoring you're unit on the floor on d, being the best pick n roll defender in the nba at his position ( he has the tools). And look the guy is young, marc gasol wasn't a defensive savant at 21. But man i'm excited when he gets to that point, orlando magic redux getting to the finals as the best player on your team. lebron wont be around forever.

Yeah I think he can learn to overcome the defensive shortcomings you're talking about which definitely makes him an exciting player. If he continues to improve his game, at 24 he could be one of the most valuable players in the league. He was second in the league in rebounding last year. He could feasibly be at the 15 per game mark with slightly better positioning on defense. Combine that with continued refinement to his offensive game and he could (should?) be one of the top big men in the game.

 

[jfuchs91]

@jfuchs91 I tend to think his offensive talent is far ahead of what people are naturally inclined to believe, he isn't the sharpest but the man can get creative. For him I think that will come easily with time, but my issue is he isn't nearly as good defensively as he should be. By that I mean positional awareness, anchoring you're unit on the floor on d, being the best pick n roll defender in the nba at his position ( he has the tools). And look the guy is young, marc gasol wasn't a defensive savant at 21. But man i'm excited when he gets to that point, orlando magic redux getting to the finals as the best player on your team. lebron wont be around forever.

Defensive improvement, especially for a big, usually comes with more experience. Andre is still learning defensive rotations at NBA speed. He's not the most instinctive player, but he's still young and can make up for it with his physical tools.

Overall, however, I think his game will flourish when he realizes just how massive he is. He can overpower nearly anyone in the league, but sometimes gets caught playing a finesse game - which he's able to do because he's also a stellar athlete; I'm not sure I've ever seen someone his size so quick laterally. When he learns he can use his body to nudge defenders out of the way and create easy looks for himself, he'll become a much more dominant offensive player.

He's still just 21, though. Lots of time for Van Gundy to mold him into the beast he'll become.

 

[Kitaman]

Wow!! And to think that Andre and Amida are the same height. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .end of physical comparison.

 

[mets1090]

Wow!! And to think that Andre and Amida are the same height. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .end of physical comparison.

Andre is the same height as a lot of college players. That's pretty much the end of the physical comparison for the rest of them too.

 

[James]

@jfuchs91 the thing is rudy gobert is miles ahead defensively and only a year older. That might actually make your point stronger though since gobert played so much pro ball and entered the nba at an older age. I'm hoping dre has the drive to considered being first team all defense , some players just don't.

 

[aceboon]

Wow!! And to think that Andre and Amida are the same height. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .end of physical comparison.

what was the point of this? Drummond is a freak physically, there really isn't anyone out there that can compare to him on that end.

 

[Kembacity]

So where should I draft him in fantasy next season? teens? 30? It's so hard to judge where you should take a guy who makes you tank a category (Freethrows).

I came in 3rd in my league but won it last year, with DeAndre Jordan as my post beast. I was 100% set on getting either Deandre or Andre, and this coming year I want Andre, if he doesn't get hurt he should be one of the most valuable fantasy players (if you don't count FT)

 

[Kitaman]

what was the point of this? Drummond is a freak physically, there really isn't anyone out there that can compare to him on that end.

No point at all or put down, just a Wow! Amida is the only 7 footer I've seen personally recently and to think they are the same height is mind boggling to me.

No negativity, and no need for anyone to defend Amida.

 

[superjohn]

Drummond is the biggest physical freak in the NBA, a couple years ago he weighed in at 290 lbs. with 6% body fat. You factor in his size, coordination and explosiveness and it's pretty much unmatchable for anyone let alone Brimah.

 

[jfuchs91]

@jfuchs91 the thing is rudy gobert is miles ahead defensively and only a year older. That might actually make your point stronger though since gobert played so much pro ball and entered the nba at an older age. I'm hoping dre has the drive to considered being first team all defense , some players just don't.

Gobert is definitely ahead of Drummond defensively, but Gobert is also one of the best defenders in the entire league. Playing pro ball from a young age certainly helped, and his insane 7'9" wingspan doesn't hurt either.

Gobert doesn't have the offensive ceiling Drummond does, but he's special defensively. He had a legitimate case for DPOY last year, and really only got significant minutes in the second half of the season. He's a rare player that has the tools to be a better rim protector than Drummond, but Andre should be a better P&R defender and more capable of switching onto a perimeter player.

I think this is a big season for Drummond's development. He's finally got the paint to himself, and the team is built around him. I know I'll be watching a lot of Pistons games on League Pass.

 

[mets1090]

He's a rare player that has the tools to be a better rim protector than Drummond, but Andre should be a better P&R defender and more capable of switching onto a perimeter player.

I can't imagine Wade has had the ball taken from him from the same player on back to back positions too often in his career. I'd bet this is the only time a post player has done it. Pretty impressive.

 

[Scoe]

This has gotta be the year AD gets into the all-star game, he's still just 21 once he gets into one all-star game he should get into a bunch.

 

[Walker11]

S. Johnson is a FAR better prospect than Winslow. Winslow is an undersized 3/4 with not a great shot. Winslow is a 6'7" 245lb physical specimen who's only visible flaw is his low release. He will have a much better career than Winslow.

I don't know about "far better" but I think it was funny to hear some talking heads being shocked that Stanley went above Winslow. SJ was unanimously regarded as the better prospect in HS (just one year ago) and put up slightly better stats in college for a team with a much worse offense. They are both good prospects but SJ looks to be the better prospect to me and he was a beast in the summer league.

 

[CTBasketball]

I just had a thought that Andre is kinda like a more athletic Shaq. But holy God Shaq dominated the league from day 1. 23/14 his rookie year.

 

[nomar]

http://www.slamonline.com/media/sla...at-the-drew-league-video/#q434qaQkg7egtslz.97 Andre is looking huge, Stanley Johnson also looks like a grown man. Weird seeing Isaiah Austin on the court.

Not a real Husky

 

[jazyj]

S. Johnson is a FAR better prospect than Winslow. Winslow is an undersized 3/4 with not a great shot. Winslow is a 6'7" 245lb physical specimen who's only visible flaw is his low release. He will have a much better career than Winslow.

are you just making things up as you go along because first of all JW is an average sized 2/3 and he never was pick to play 4 and second JW shot 48% from the field and 42% from 3 and in the tournament he shot in the 50% range so i don't know where you got that he wasn't a good shooter

 

[RipCity]

I just had a thought that Andre is kinda like a more athletic Shaq. But holy God Shaq dominated the league from day 1. 23/14 his rookie year.

Shaq's offensive game was light years ahead of Drummonds. Drummonds a physical specimen, and could be one of the game's best players eventually. But we're kidding ourselves by acting like its a foregone conclusion that his offense will drastically pick up.