There’s been recent Cavs rumors involving Andre Drummond/potential movement.
It’d appear to be a foregone conclusion that Andre Drummond will end up picking up his $28.7 million player option for next season. I’d expect to see the Cleveland Cavaliers give Drummond more time alongside pieces such as Kevin Love, Collin Sexton and others, before maybe looking to trade him as an expiring contract player.
That’s again, assuming Drummond does opt in, which given how teams will end up being close to the vest due to the financial effect of the novel coronavirus pandemic it’d seem this upcoming offseason, should be the case.
Now, perhaps Drummond, whose fresh off having a career-best 17.7 points per game, to go with a league-leading 15.2 rebounds per outing, to go with 1.9 steals and 1.6 blocks, does work out pretty well with the Cavaliers. That could play out, in theory.
That said, in today’s NBA, Drummond’s interior-laiden style on both ends makes it a question we all have as far as how he’d fit in considerable stretches alongside Kevin Love, for instance.
It wouldn’t hurt the Cavaliers to give it a shot, though, and even more so because of how the hiatus and then, from the Cavs’ sake, the 2019-20 season was cut short. That and Drummond being initially banged up led to him having only eight games played with Cleveland following the acquisition of him near the 2020 trade deadline via deal with the Detroit Pistons.
Nonetheless, it’s understandable if Cleveland were to move Dre near the 2021 deadline, and if they wanted to trade him, assuming he opts in, their “best chance” would be near the next deadline. That’s per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor in his latest mailbag set of responses, for more on reported details involving that, you can view those here.
For further emphasis, I’d still expect Drummond to have more time with the Cavs, for them to at least have more of an evaluation of him if he were to opt in. And that’d be sensible.
Granted, per Fedor, while there have been talks between the two sides on a potential contract extension, or at least were before, those two sides “have been far apart in those preliminary discussions.”
That was backed up further by a report from Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell on Wednesday, too. Dammarell also had this to say regarding their negotiations, which is not all that surprising, and Dammarell alluded to how Drummond’s curious decision-making/desire to expand his game more to the perimeter/as a ball-handler in-game haven’t aided his case. That’s not paid off.
"“With all this in mind, the Drummond situation in Cleveland is only going to become even more uncomfortable this offseason. It already has been uncomfortable at times, according to league sources.”"
From there, though, Dammarell did hit on how Drummond should be a Cav next season, and that him opting in would buy time for both. But moving along, while an extension could be explored at some point still, a next step could be a trade, seemingly down the road. And a few potential suitors for the Cavs involving Drummond came to mind for Dammarell, if the situation doesn’t pan out.
"“But, if things don’t get better it becomes even easier to flip Drummond and his mammoth expiring contract to another team to recoup assets to assist in their rebuild. Teams like the Boston Celtics, the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers all make sense as trade destinations for Drummond and according to sources, the Celtics are monitoring the situation.”"
So what’s to make of these Cavs rumors involving Drummond and/or the C’s?
These rumors/reports just make it seem more and more likely that Drummond isn’t a long-term piece for the Wine and Gold. While I want to keep an open mind as far as the Dre fit, it’s tough to foresee the Cavaliers eventually keeping him for a long time.
In a recent interview with Fedor, Drummond made it seem as though him and the Cavaliers still are on great terms, and him getting in some practice work previously/team building with the group helped the relationship between the two sides, too. He didn’t say anything definitive as far as an opt-in, but it still seems that will eventually happen.
Albeit is still again seems like a deal involving Drummond at some point next season, and more so near the deadline is going to be the move. And as Dammarell’s report highlighted, Boston would be a sensible destination.
The C’s, while Daniel Theis has done a nice job for them, could still benefit from having the likes of Drummond in this case. That’s with his interior presence and strength, and as a formidable 5 for them who could really aid their rebounding efforts, too.
We’d have to see as far as a potential package, but perhaps Gordon Hayward, provided he opts into his $34.2 million player option, which is reportedly expected, could be a possible target for consideration?
Hayward, when healthy, is a highly capable forward, absolutely, but Boston, with how Drummond would be expiring as well, and with how the C’s have a number of high level threats to make up for it, could maybe consider that. Perhaps other Drummond deals featuring the Clips/Spurs could be mentioned as the offseason progresses, too, we’ll see.
At any rate, we’ll keep on the look out for more Cavs rumors involving Drummond/his near future outlook.I’d still expect Dre to have more time alongside Love, Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and/or others, though.
But it seems clear that it’s increasingly more likely Drummond isn’t a long-term piece, and even more so if the Cavs draft a big.