Sir Charles in Charge
Fansided

Five NBA Players Who Will Thrive in New Roles This Season

By David Ramil

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next

Mar 5, 2014; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center

Andre Drummond

(0) dribbles at Chicago Bulls center

Joakim Noah

(13) in the fourth quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Chicago won 105-94. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Andre Drummond

Last Season’s Stats:

81 Games Played

Per Game Averages: 32.3 MIN, 13.5 PTS, 13.2 REB, 1.6 BLK, 1.2 STL

Overall Field Goal Percentage: 62.3

Live Feed

What other stars should join LeBron James' US superteam?
What other stars should join LeBron James' US superteam? /

PistonPowered

  • The dream starting five for the Detroit Pistons five years from now PistonPowered
  • Will this stat equal stardom for Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey? PistonPowered
  • Which Detroit Pistons could save Team USA in the Olympics? PistonPowered
  • Detroit Pistons could have major roster churn after 2023-24 season PistonPowered
  • The best Detroit Pistons to wear each uniform number PistonPowered

    • What’s Changed?

    During new Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy’s tenure with his former team, a young, raw player saw his averages increase by three points and two rebounds per game. That player? A third-year pro named Dwight Howard. Van Gundy was a protégé to Pat Riley and worked with him on developing other Hall-of-Fame big men like Alonzo Mourning and Patrick Ewing. While it’s too early in Drummond’s career to see if he winds up in Springfield, it’s a very promising coincidence.

    How Does He Respond?

    Like a duck to water. Drummond has lacked any sort of consistency in his short career and has been handled by a staff that couldn’t figure out how to maximize his talents. That ended with the hiring of Van Gundy. Drummond will be the focal point of an inside-outside offense similar to what SVG ran with the Orlando Magic. Detroit doesn’t have the shooters (yet) to make it a complete success but Drummond has all the tools to be a star for years to come.

    Something to look out for, the possible monkey-wrench to this scenario…with the news that he has signed his qualifying offer to re-join the Pistons, Greg Monroe will be looking to make a splash in next year’s free agency period. He could disrupt Van Gundy’s efforts to groom Drummond in order to establish himself as a more valuable commodity.