After being bought out by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Andre Drummond signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in March to provide relief while superstars Anthony Davis and LeBron James were out with injuries. He also rounded a center rotation that featured former Sixth Man of the year Montrezl Harrell and NBA champion Marc Gasol.
Drummond recently reflected positively upon his time with the Lakers even though the season didn’t end how he had hoped.
Now, Drummond’s future with the team is in question and he declined to comment on if he plans to return even though he believes he and Anthony Davis need more time together to gel.
The Drummond signing received a lot of criticism from many from the outset as he immediately replaced Gasol in the starting lineup with Harrell also losing playing time.
On the inside though, both of those guys supported Drummond and he is appreciative of that.
“Those two guys are incredible professionals,” Drummond said. “They were very supportive when I came in despite me having the starter minutes and playing the role for this team. They were very professional and very helpful for me. Even for me, when the situation turned the other way where I was coming off the bench and wasn’t playing a lot and those guys were playing.
“We just did a great job of supporting each other making sure each and every one of us felt the positivity that we wanted the other guys to succeed,” said Drummond
Where does Drummond fit next year?
Drummond may be a dinosaur in the modern NBA with his big-man presence and lack of ability to stretch the floor, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have an important role for the Lakers going forward. While defense and rebounding isn’t always a necessity in today’s NBA, it can certainly be a luxury, especially when making a deep playoff run.
Drummond has always provided that with his two All-Star appearances and even in his brief 26-game stint with the Lakers this season.
If Drummond is to return to the Lakers though, he would have to take a severe pay cut, so it remains to be seen if that is something he is willing to do to stay in L.A.
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