We have commented for several years that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ organization ignored height in a sport where it matters a lot.
They addressed that yesterday in a huge way, trading impending free agents John Henson and Brandon Knight, and a second round draft pick to the Pistons for one of the best big men in the game, Andre Drummond.
Yes, we understand Drummond can be a free agent at the end of the season by declining his player option, but the Cavs have his “Bird rights”, meaning they can offer him more than any other team.
And even if he leaves via free agency, GM Koby Altman basically gave up the second round pick, because Henson and Knight were leaving anyway.
That’s what you call a win/win. He’s just 26 years old.
Quite frankly, Drummond is one of the game’s best big men. He leads the league in rebounding at 15.8, and has led the NBA in this category in three of the last four seasons. He’s also scoring 17.8 points per game.
Is he a guy who can be the best player on a playoff team? That’s doubtful, but he is a productive big guy and is a deterrent around the basket, averaging 1.7 blocked shots per game.
Does he make the wine and gold significantly better right now? Again, probably not, so any fear of a lengthy winning streak starting soon and putting the Cavs with lower odds of getting a top five pick in this June’s draft are probably unfounded.
However, no one should complain about adding a good player for virtually nothing, and Drummond is a very good player.
He isn’t like the flashy players today’s NBA seem to love, but you still need quality big men to win, even today.
How does he fit in with the current Cavs’ roster? That would be up to the coaching staff and the young backcourt players.
Beilein has talked about ball movement offensively, but we really haven’t seen it. And the young players (Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Porter Jr.) have had issues making entry passes to the low post, which is where you want Drummond to have the basketball.
If they don’t learn quickly how to do that, then the new big man won’t be much of a factor offensively.
On the other hand, Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr. are very good passers, so perhaps some imagination getting the ball into the high post to either of them, and then playing off Drummond can work.
With Tristan Thompson remaining on the roster, you may be able to give Nance some minutes at the small forward spot, which we have also advocated.
That also makes you stronger defensively, and it goes without saying that is a huge need for this squad.
The point is this is a low risk move for the Cavs. They basically gave up a second round pick for a quality big man.
When in doubt, we are always in favor of adding good players to the team. That’s what Altman did yesterday.
Can’t complain about that.
MW
Cleveland Sports Perspective 