Andre Drummond still feels fondness for the Sixers, despite being ‘blindsided’ by last year’s trade

Andre Drummond spent the afternoon of last February’s trade deadline playfully heaving halfcourt shots with Joel Embiid. But the former Sixers big man remembers the strange vibe in Camden after coach Doc Rivers had canceled that day’s practice, recognizing that “something’s about to happen.”

Nearly a year later, Drummond acknowledges he was “definitely blindsided” by being included in the blockbuster deal that sent him, Ben Simmons, and Seth Curry to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden. Yet Drummond, now a Chicago Bull, still calls the Sixers “family” and feels a fondness for the city he said embraced him in four short months.

“They welcomed me. They made me feel very comfortable when I got here,” Drummond said before the Bulls’ 126-112 win Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center. “We just had a lot of fun as a team. We really cared about each other. We had one common goal, which was to win as many games as possible and to be great. …

“[It’s] sad that we had to break things up in February. Definitely miss playing here. … The city of Philadelphia, man, the fan base was one of a kind. I loved it here.”

Drummond looked like himself in short bursts of the Bulls’ victory. He collected six rebounds in eight minutes, including a tip-in off a Coby White missed three-pointer shortly after entering the game late in the first quarter. He went 3-for-3 from the floor for six points, putting on a spin move that sent Georges Niang to the floor in the first half and opening the fourth quarter with a one-handed alley-oop layup. Down the stretch, Drummond celebrated Zach LaVine’s 41-point explosion from the bench, contorting into a stank face after one of LaVine’s 11 three-pointers and molding his hand into the shape of a gun after another.

The outing continued Drummond’s transition into a role player, after he was a two-time All-Star and four-time NBA rebounding leader in parts of eight seasons with the Detroit Pistons.

Chicago is Drummond’s sixth team since 2020, when the Pistons traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers weeks before the NBA (and the world) shut down at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He joined the Los Angeles Lakers off the buyout market in 2021, then signed a one-year veterans’ minimum contract with the Sixers as a free agent the ensuing summer. That reunited Drummond with Rivers, whom he has known since he was a teenager because Rivers’ adopted son, Adam Jones, was his roommate at St. Thomas More School, a prep school in Connecticut.

With the Sixers, Drummond morphed into the backup center that Embiid called the best he has had in Philly.

He averaged 6.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, and two assists in 49 games with 12 starts and was an affable locker-room veteran. After years matching up against Embiid on the court — and shouldering public smack talk from the MVP contender — Drummond learned to respect Embiid’s daily work ethic. Playing for Rivers, Drummond added, felt like a “form of a father figure speaking to you. And when he spoke, his message always resonated.”

“He understood his role,” Rivers said. " … On the nights that he played a lot, he was happy. And the nights that he didn’t, he understood, and those guys are so valuable for your team. He also was a huge rebounder. I thought we took that for granted.”

Drummond’s absence following the trade turned out to be a sneaky downfall for the Sixers. They signed DeAndre Jordan — whose age, loss of athleticism, and overall ineffectiveness immediately surfaced — as a replacement off the buyout market. Rivers was reluctant to trust then-second-year big man Paul Reed. And though Reed was solid during the Sixers’ first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors, Rivers started a struggling Jordan for Games 1 and 2 against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals while Embiid healed from an orbital fracture and concussion.

Drummond, meanwhile, started all 28 regular-season and postseason games he played for Brooklyn. He averaged 11.8 points on 61% shooting and 10.3 rebounds in the regular season — and in March, totaled seven points, seven rebounds, and two assists in his first visit to Philly since the trade — before the Nets were swept by the Boston Celtics in the playoffs’ first round.

Drummond told The Inquirer he considered a return to the Sixers in free agency, but “the cards just didn’t fall the way they were supposed to.” The Bulls offered him a two-year, $6.6 million contract with a player option, a deal that likely was not feasible for a Sixers team that prioritized adding P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. and re-signing Harden at a pay cut. The Sixers’ late frontcourt addition instead was Montrezl Harrell, who finished Friday’s game with 17 points and four rebounds in his second consecutive strong outing without Embiid (foot soreness).

» READ MORE: Montrezl Harrell playing a bigger role with Joel Embiid sidelined

With inconsistent playing time in Chicago, Drummond is practicing a motto of “control what I can control.” He entered Friday averaging 6.2 points and 7.0 rebounds in 13.9 minutes but has recorded less than 10 minutes in nine games since Nov. 25. Like Rivers, Bulls coach Billy Donovan called Drummond a “great team guy” and praised his willingness to do “whatever we’ve asked him to do.”

Yet following a season as one of the NBA’s surprise teams, the Bulls are at a bit of a crossroads with an 18-21 record and about a month to go before this year’s trade deadline. If they become sellers and overhaul the roster, it’s possible Drummond could be moved or bought out.

“Just staying mentally tough because you never know who’s watching,” Drummond said of how he has approached this season. “You never know what the next opportunity’s going to be, so I can’t really have any [ill will], regardless of how I feel. I mean, do I want to play? Absolutely. Do I feel like I should be out there and being able to help contribute to the team? Of course.

“But if the coaching staff feels there’s a different role for me, I have to accept what it is and do what I can when I’m out there and just be the best teammate I can be.”

Following Friday’s victory, however, positivity surrounded Drummond and the Bulls. Before he left the Wells Fargo Center floor, he stopped to shake hands with former Sixers minority owner Michael Rubin and chat with skill development coach Dwayne Jones.

Maybe later, Drummond will drop a message in a still-active group chat with former Sixers teammates. Because, even after being blindsided by his inclusion in last year’s blockbuster trade, they feel like Drummond’s family.

“Seeing everybody happy to see me and wishing me luck, it’s always a good feeling,” Drummond said. “It was very, very exciting for me to play the game here. Obviously, getting the win was definitely the cherry on top, but I’m always excited to see my guys.”