Los Angeles Lakers: The team’s Andre Drummond conundrum moving forward
The Los Angeles Lakers have an Andre Drummond conundrum.
In a win-or-go-home situation in Game 6 of their first-round NBA Playoff series against the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers were not able to rely on Anthony Davis (due to injury) nor Andre Drummond (due to unplayability).
When the Lakers were able to sign Drummond in the buyout market, many expected them to be on an NBA Finals collision course with another buyout market magnet, the Brooklyn Nets.
Although, fate was not too kind to the Lakers as they were bit by the injury bug in a bad way during the regular season. After injuries to both LeBron James and Davis, the Lakers were forced to participate in the play-in tournament to officially qualify for the playoffs.
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Los Angeles beat the Golden State Warriors in the play-in tournament to seal their first-round matchup with the Suns. Many assumed it was a first-round matchup that the Lakers would win despite being the lower-seeded team due to their size and experience.
However, the Lakers literally fell apart (AD essentially missed Games 5 and 6 to injury) and the Suns won the series in six games.
With their season on the line, with AD out due to injury, the Lakers needed their buyout prize to step up in a big way in Game 6. Instead, the opposite happened and Drummond logged a DNP-CD. Instead of turning to Drummond, the Lakers turned to Marc Gasol. Drummond was averaging 20 minutes per game in the series thus far but had been benched after he emerged as more of a liability than an asset for the team.
Was it wrong from the start for Andre Drummond in Los Angeles?
When Andre Drummond came to Los Angeles, many saw it as a win-win. Drummond can show he is capable of being a key cog on a championship team. The Lakers can rent an elite rebounder to increase their chances of repeating as champions.
In the end, Drummond’s flaws were shown to be a liability. He is not mobile enough to help when a team goes small. His only real skill is rebounding; even though he averaged 10 boards in under 25 minus a game, Drummond doesn’t help in any other meaningful way.
Drummond has limited offensive touch, he can only really score within three feet from the basket, as 54 percent of his shots were at that range this year. Couple that with his pathetic 60 percent free-throw shooting and you have a walking liability in late-game situations.
The advanced stats don’t help Drummond’s case for being a productive player either. During his time in LA, he posted a 0.00 VORP. Additionally, his real plus-minus for the season was -1.38. All of this while technically being paid a max contract.
In an ever-evolving NBA, it became abundantly clear that Drummond was more of a liability than a playable player for the Lakers. Especially against a team such as the Suns.
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Drummond started the season as a “max player” the Cavs perhaps didn’t want to play because he might help them win too many games. Drummond ended the season as a “max player” who the Lakers couldn’t play because he couldn’t help them win a game.