Andre Drummond heads out west after discussions with numerous teams

Andre Drummond was the second big name to fall during the buyout period after he reached an agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday. The 27-year-old centre spoke with numerous teams such as the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and the Los Angeles Clippers before agreeing to a 1-year veteran’s minimum contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The move from the Cavaliers comes a year after they acquired him from the Detroit Pistons in February of 2020. This season Drummond is averaging 17 points and 13.8 rebounds which sparked the interest from many teams. The star centre had been benched since February as the Cavaliers looked to execute a trade but nothing materialised.

The 4-time NBA rebounding champion posted a photo of himself in the Lakers uniform with a caption “back to work”. Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka spoke on Drummond and his elite skillset in a statement, “We feel extremely fortunate to add a player of this calibre and magnitude to our core group at this stage of our journey to defend the NBA title”.

Once Drummond is back up to speed after six weeks on the sideline, he will prove to be a serious upgrade in the front court, as Marc Gasol has provided inconsistent play to this point and undersized Montrezl Harrell can find it difficult against the bigger assignments in the middle.

Ultimately, once the Lakers get Lebron James and Anthony Davis back from injury, Drummond will be a massive part in the Lakers’ attempt in beating the stacked Brooklyn Nets.