Cavs: 3 former players to avoid in free agency

Former players to avoid in free agency: 1. Andre Drummond

Don’t do it! Stay away!

My apologies; every Cavaliers fan in the world collectively took over the keyboard for a moment. The Andre Drummond experience was a wild one last season, as the Cavs acquired him on-the-cheap at the 2020 Trade Deadline. He played and started 33 games for the Cavs until they shut him down to look for a trade partner, eventually waiving him and allowing him to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Drummond does some things well, the sorts of things that fill up the stat sheet and make certain all-in-one metrics swoon (looking at you, PER). Drummond averaged 17.5 points, 12.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game with the Cavs, eye-popping numbers. He also shot just 49.1 percent from the field, 57.7 percent from the stripe, and was a cumulative -178 when he was on the court over those 33 games.

When Drummond was on the court he demanded the ball, operating with a sky-high usage rate of 30.6 percent. That would have slotted in at 14th last season in the entire league, just above Kyrie Irving and Russell Westbrook. It led the entire team by a significant margin, a mind-boggling reality for a big man who doesn’t create shots for others or shoot 3-pointers (13.5 percent for his career, 18.2 percent with the Cavs).

The Drummond and Jarrett Allen jumbo frontcourt experience was already tried and failed. Bringing in Drummond instead of re-signing Allen would be madness, and it’s presumably Drummond’s lack of elite impact that saw the Cleveland front office bring in Allen to begin with.

The 6’10” center is likely looking for deals in the range of the midlevel exception, and the Cavs must know better than to re-sign Allen and spend that much money on his backup, especially since the team should look to get Evan Mobley some minutes at the 5. Even on a minimum deal Drummond would be a bad idea as he would crater their defense and steal touches away from players who deserve them.

Drummond’s stay in Cleveland was brief enough that the nostalgia shouldn’t run too deep, although he may have hoodwinked some Cavs fans with something akin to Stockholm Syndrome. When it comes to Drummond, Rose and Green the Cavs should thank them for their time and look ahead to the future and players that make sense on their timeline and with their roster.