Cavs will have some clarity with Andre Drummond decision this week

Andre Drummond’s player option decision is set to come this week, which is clearly key for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Center Andre Drummond could formally, at least, be an unrestricted free agent in the rapid offseason/free agency period ahead.

One would assume that Drummond is set to pick up his $28.7 million player option soon, though, and it’s look as if that’s going to be the case.

According to a few reports on Sunday, the Cleveland Cavaliers should have clarity regarding Drummond’s decision this week.

Per a report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, the deadline for Drummond’s player option decision is set to come at 5 PM on Nov. 19, so Thursday, for one.

And Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell reported how Drummond is set to likely opt into that player option, and though he stressed how it isn’t set to happen immediately from there, that the Cavs do intend to trade Drummond, seemingly at some point.

Granted, I would think that Drummond would stick around with the Cavaliers to some extent, albeit he seems likely to be moved at least by the 2021 trade deadline. For what it’s worth, Fedor recently reported that if the Cavs do intend to move Drummond, which it appears they do, their “best chance” to do so is the deadline, so I’d probably think that’s more so the timeline for that possibility.

But a Drummond extension is not in the cards it doesn’t seem.

The upcoming deadline for Drummond for the Cavs should provide some clarity for the Wine and Gold, though, again.

The Cavs will have some clarity based on the Drummond decision to come this week.

Drummond, who again seems likely to pick up his player option soon, per Dammarell, is not a player that I’d think gets moved right away, but it’s a plus that Cleveland will know where they’ll be standing with Drummond this week. Now, it’s not likely he’s going to be a long-term piece, but it will be nice for Cleveland to know this week what the situation will be heading into the season.

Drummond, who was acquired via trade from the Detroit Pistons near the 2020 deadline, only appeared in eight games with Cleveland in 2019-20, due to the novel coronavirus-induced hiatus/Cleveland not eventually being an Orlando area bubble team.

It was unfortunate for the Cavs that they didn’t have much of a sample size with Drummond alongside Kevin Love, Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and others, clearly.

Albeit for Cleveland, I would still imagine that we should see more of Drummond with them in game action next season, based on Fedor’s comments about him feasibly being more so a trade deadline piece.

Conversely, while it seems that we should more of Drummond, Cleveland could potentially be sans Tristan Thompson, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent.

And though it was not “formally” the case/officially, Thompson turned down an “offer” from the Cavs, but he does reportedly want to try to finish his career with the Cavs; you can view reported details about that here. So we could see TT sign elsewhere.

It would seem that Cleveland could look to add a big in the 2020 NBA Draft on Wednesday, however, and while it’d seem Obi Toppin, per recent reports/mocks, would be the pick for Cleveland, perhaps Onyeka Okongwu could be that as well.

That could potentially factor into big man depth, and even with it not seeming to likely take the full $8-10 million exception early, per Fedor, perhaps Cleveland could look to add a backup 5, in relation to Drummond starting, in free agency.

Fedor noted how Nerlens Noel, Alex Len and Harry Giles, for instance, could maybe be possible targets. That’s especially the case if Cleveland were to go with a wing in the draft, though, such as Deni Avdija or perhaps Isaac Okoro.

Anyhow, in swinging back to Drummond, it’s apparent that the Cavaliers will at least have some clarity regarding his decision to come this week, and with them knowing what is set to seemingly have an expiring trade piece heading into next season, I would imagine.

The 27-year-old Drummond wouldn’t look to be a long-term piece, especially given the lack of sample size in his time with Cleveland for an extension. And that’s also with how he’s not proven to be much of a jump shooter at all to this point through eight seasons, and with how defensively, he can be played off the floor in some matchups due to a lack of switchability.

Albeit Drummond, assuming he does eventually opt into his player option, would seem to be a meaningful expiring trade piece, as he is a two-time All-Star, is coming off averaging a career-best 17.7 points per game, and led the league in rebounding for the fourth time in his career in 2019-20.

His interior presence defensively can be notable in a number of matchups, still, too, though, if there’s quality perimeter pieces around him, in particular.

We’ll ultimately see what happens with Drummond this week, but one should expect him to pick up his player option. And assuming from there, Drummond will continue to be a subject in trade rumors, anyway.