Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Could Andre Drummond be on the move?
(PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Sevald/Getty Images.)
The Hawks lost once again and their record went down to a 7-28 disaster, which is carrying the ass of the league. It’s been a pretty disappointing season for the ATL (I’m so cool for saying that, huh?), a team that was expected to fight for a playoff spot. But at this pace, they might struggle to win 20 games.
There have been murmurs last month that Trae Young wants help on the roster. It didn’t help that John Collins was taken away for 25 games for violating the anti-drug policy. Adrian Wojnarowski then came out with this nugget.
Andre Drummond is rumored to be shopped by the Pistons and that the Hawks are seemingly targeting him. The Hawks want a true center so that they can put Collins at his natural power forward position. Atlanta is willing to give away the 2020 first round pick they got from Brooklyn (they still have their own pick so don’t worry). And they have a ton of expiring contracts they could shed (Chandler Parsons, Evan Turner, Alex Len, Allen Crabbe).
The fit might be pretty good. Drummond has never had a great backcourt partner throughout his career and Trae Young is such a dynamic offensive player that this might be an optimal pairing. Drummond does provide a bit of rim protection but the Hawks defense isn’t so great that he’d get the same overwhelming attacks from opposing offenses. Collins and Drummond as a frontcourt pairing won’t do great for spacing, though. While the entire Pistons team is in the same tier as the Hawks in terms of rebounding, it’s because Drummond is keeping them afloat. Drummond is averaging a robust 17.6 points and 15.8 boards this season.
But there’s also the matter of keeping and paying him. They have all the cap space in the world this coming summer. They can provide Drummond the money but they’ll have to be creative in future years when Trae, Collins, and possibly De’Andre Hunter and Kevin Huerter. They’re going to have to get creative with that.
Oh, yeah. Keeping him. Drummond has made it known that he’s declining his player option of nearly $29 million. It’s a curious decision but it’s also a weak free agent class that he COULD get more money this way. It’s just the question of which team is going to give him that much green since traditional centers like Dre aren’t exactly huge in demand. So should the Hawks just hope to get him this summer and keep their first round pick? Of course, Trae Young is probably pushing for it because he wants changes now. Also, Trae and Dre are really chummy and, sometimes, that’s enough.
Either way, Drummond isn’t a gamebreaker despite his gaudy statistics. But he can be a step in the right direction. We’ll see where he is within the next month.
Bullet Passes
Lakers were up by 24 against the Pelicans before L.A. kind of let go of the gas pedal. The Pelicans were able to cut the deficit down to 7. Danny Green‘s three halted the run and the Lakers came away with the win but that is two straight games where the Lakers relaxed. They are way too comfortable with that switch.
It’s a little weird that James Harden, who has had 22 triple-doubles in a season before, got his first triple-double of the season on Friday night. He went for 44-11-11. A lot of pundits don’t seem to feel anything whenever he goes for big numbers like this but I still think it’s unbelievable. I’m really not sure how many times we’re going to see someone average 38 points after Harden.
The Heat were held to 6 points in the fourth quarter. Ouch.
The Scoreboard
ATL 106 (7-28) @ BOS 109 (24-8)
MIA 85 (25-10) @ ORL 105 (16-19)
POR 122 (15-21) @ WAS 103 (10-24)
PHI 108 (23-14) @ HOU 118 (24-11)
NY 112 (10-25) @ PHX 120 (14-21)
NO 113 (11-24) @ LAL 123 (28-7)
Watch This Play
We know what Aaron Gordon can do. Dare to stop him?
(VIDEO CREDIT: Chaz Clavant NBA.)
We’d love to see him do another dunk contest. Do it!
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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