Get to know Sixers center Andre Drummond through the eyes of a Bulls beat writer

As the offseason slows down, The Inquirer reached out to reporters with insight on the Sixers’ newcomers. Drummond returns to the Sixers after stints with the Nets and the Bulls.

Andre Drummond played 49 games with the Sixers in the 2021-22 season before he was traded to the Nets in the blockbuster James Harden-Ben Simmons deal.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

by Gina Mizell

Published Aug. 28, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

The 76ers’ busy offseason has slowed down. They pulled off the NBA’s splashiest free-agency move, by luring perennial All-Star forward Paul George away from his hometown Los Angeles Clippers on a max contract. They also added important complementary players — and brought back key members of the 2023-24 team — in hopes of contending for a championship.

With the roster nearly set, The Inquirer reached out to reporters with insight on the Sixers’ newcomers.

Next up is Julia Poe, who covered Sixers signee Andre Drummond as a Chicago Bulls beat writer for the Chicago Tribune.

Q: Sixers fans generally are pleased to see Drummond return. How would you describe his past two seasons with the Bulls, in relation to expectations when he signed as a free agent?

A: The fit never quite worked for Drummond in Chicago. Despite being the backup to center Nikola Vučević, Drummond’s playing time was never consistent, especially in his first season, when he was held out of multiple games in a row only to play 20 or more minutes the following week.

Drummond’s inconsistent playing time wasn’t without cause. He was hit-or-miss as a rim defender, and his finishing efficiency (57.4% from the field over two seasons with the Bulls, 61.4% from within 3 feet of the rim) basically nullified him as an offensive threat, despite his preternatural ability to seek out offensive rebounds. But it generally felt like the Bulls were attempting to wedge him into their system, which was out of sorts for the entirety of his two seasons in Chicago.

Q: It often can be difficult for former All-Stars to transition to a more limited role later in their career. Why do you think Drummond has successfully made that shift?

A: Drummond still sees himself as a starter in the NBA, a fact he readily vocalized throughout last season. He continued to make this case during a brief injury absence for Vučević last season and also advocated for a two-big lineup that kept both centers on the court. This hasn’t been a bad thing. Drummond is driven by his desire to regain a starting role, but he also balances that goal with patience.

Even when he fell out of the main Bulls rotation for games at a time, Drummond tempered his frustration and did not explicitly criticize coaching decisions while speaking with the media. Whenever he did get into the game, his explosiveness off the bench often made a major impact — especially when the Bulls were undersized in the paint — and this overall energy lift could sometimes overshadow other weaknesses in Drummond’s game.

Q: What still makes Drummond such a dominant rebounder?

A: As someone who went from covering Drummond to [Chicago Sky forward] Angel Reese, I feel like I’ve been in a rebounding clinic lately as a beat reporter. It’s easy to point to his size [listed at 6-foot-11, 279 pounds], but I think Drummond’s footwork to get his pre-shot positioning correct is still somewhat underrated. Looking back at film, a huge swatch of Drummond’s rebounds look as if his defenders forgot to box him out because he had already found his spot under the rim before they began to seek out contact.

His physicality helps this footwork — Drummond knows that if he gets to his spot, very few opponents in the NBA can physically muscle him off it. And he’s also mastered the art of tipping the ball to himself, which is aided by his wingspan and a soft-handed approach to collect the ball in the air. Drummond was especially effective on the offensive boards in Chicago by finding separation from his defender after the pick-and-roll. He will often dive to the rim after setting a screen, not to look for a pass, but to duck under his defender and into prime position to grab a missed shot.

Q: In his last Sixers stint, Drummond sometimes had a tendency to try some interesting stuff with the ball in his hands. How much risk did he take in that regard with the Bulls?

A: Drummond never lost that tendency to try some of the most audacious stuff you’ve ever seen on a basketball court. The most infamous example of that audacity in Chicago was his “Shaqtin’ A Fool” moment against the New York Knicks in April when — for no discernible reason — he attempted to jump over the back of Torrey Craig to dunk the ball for his teammate. Hilarious stuff.

As a whole, Bulls coach Billy Donovan limited how often the ball stuck in Drummond’s hands. It was clear the center was in his comfort zone offensively if his touches were mostly catch-and-finish passes around the rim. But Drummond nevertheless turned the ball over at an above-average rate with a team-worst 0.5 assist-to-turnover ratio and a team-high 2.2 turnovers per 36 minutes.

Q: You also wrote a terrific piece in which Drummond opened up about mental health struggles. How did you go about reporting that with care?

A: Drummond has been incredibly eager to share his journey grappling with his own mental health ever since he first committed to seeking therapy in spring 2023. I’ll be honest, most of that process was just asking him the questions I would want to be asked and then letting him run with it.

Drummond had a really unique ability to articulate his own emotions, even if he hadn’t fully unpacked them yet, and I deeply appreciated the time he devoted to this work. In Chicago, he was very invested in his partnership with Dr. Wendy Borlabi, who traveled with the Bulls as the team’s director of performance and mental health. Every team offers similar resources, but a shift to a new environment and therapist always offers a new challenge.