Cavs rumors: Andre Drummond will be traded, perhaps before season, believes several execs

Cavs rumors involving Andre Drummond being potentially traded will likely be here to stay.

Andre Drummond, as was expected, picked up his $28.7 million player option for next season, and is set to be with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Drummond was of course acquired via trade from the Detroit Pistons near the 2020 deadline, but due to the prior novel coronavirus-induced hiatus, and then the Cavs not being an Orlando-area bubble team, we didn’t see much of him with Cleveland.

That sample size was only eight games. But again, it would seem likely that given his recent opt-in, the Cavs should have more of an evaluation period.

Albeit given that Cleveland and Drummond, while there was said to be reportedly some mutual interest in a potential contract extension, couldn’t come to terms, Drummond feasibly being eventually traded would seem reasonable.

For what it’s worth, while he didn’t report at the time that a trade was going to be the case right away following it, Drummond’s opt-in did ensure that Cleveland would eventually look to trade him, per Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell then. Dammarell reported how it’s not likely Drummond/the Cavs agree to an extension.

Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor previously reported that if the Cavs were to look to trade Drummond, their “best chance” would be near the 2021 deadline, assuming he opted in, of which he did. So I’d expect him to be around for at least a good chunk of this upcoming season with Cleveland, though.

Albeit according to a report from Sam Amico of FortyEightMinutes (formerly Amico Hoops) and OutKick, Drummond could seemingly be moved much sooner. Here was more on that from him.

"“Several opposing executives contacted by OutKick over the past several days said they believe the Cleveland Cavaliers will trade center Andre Drummond, perhaps before the start of the season.A few volunteered their thoughts on the possibility of a Drummond trade without even being asked.”"

This just reiterates how we should expect to see more Cavs rumors involving Drummond as a potential trade piece.

Amico also alluded to how reports earlier in the offseason about the Cavs and Boston Celtics previously having talks about a potential Drummond-for-Gordon Hayward swap were said to have been the case. That discussion/report came from Chris Mannix of NBC Sports Boston and Sports Illustrated, anyhow, and as h/t Justin Leger of NBC Sports Boston.

Although Hayward going to the Charlotte Hornets formally via eventual sign-and-trade kaboshed that, as Amico hit on.

From there, though, Amico noted how no opposing exec appeared hopeful about Drummond potentially being able to be had, nor did one stress how they “would be interested in acquiring Drummond.”

Following that, Amico then simply noted how the sense was that they believed it’d be sensible from the Cavs’ perspective to, seemingly by the deadline at least, to at some point get something in return for Drummond, whose deal is set to be expiring.

Cleveland, as Amico touched on, though, would need to take on a bad contract, one would assume, if they were to trade Drummond at some point.

Albeit I’m not at all discounting Amico’s report, and while Drummond could end up being traded before Cleveland’s first game of 2020-21, which is slated to be on Dec. 23 versus the Charlotte Hornets, I’d still expect him to be around for a chunk of next season with the Cavs.

Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has reportedly emphasized how he/the coaching staff has planned on Drummond being with Cleveland, and although I question if Drummond can be a long-term fit, I’d still think Cleveland would want to see Drummond with more of a sample.

Maybe Drummond, who, although he’s a non-shooter/not too switchable on defense, is a formidable interior presence on offense, and defense in the paint, to a large degree when he’s locked-in, and could fit long-term?

He could, in theory, aid Cleveland’s key perimeter pieces such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Kevin Porter Jr., and could maybe work alongside Kevin Love. Plus, Drummond has led the NBA in rebounding in four of the past five seasons, and did so with 15.2 boards per outing in 2019-20.

He’s coming off a career-best 17.7 points per outing last season, too, to go with having an impressive 1.9 steals per game, along with averaging 1.6 blocks. I would probably think that Drummond is a key trade piece for Cleveland, anyhow, and we’ll continue to see Cavs rumors involving him potentially being dealt.

But him perhaps being moved before Opening Night? I wouldn’t frankly bet on that playing out given the small sample size, and finding a partner for Drummond’s 2019-20 contract isn’t the simplest task.

We’ll again, see, however.