Tag Archives: Andre Drummond

Cavs to buy out Andre Drummond

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The Cleveland Cavaliers will reportedly buy out the center after not being able to facilitate a trade.

The Andre Drummond saga in Cleveland is finally coming to an end. According to reports the Cavs are going to buy out the center allowing him to become a free agent.

This situation has been completely mismanaged by the Cavs from start to finish. Even if the team was not going to be able trade Andre Drummond, the whole mess was botched prior to this. The team would rather let Drummond sit an rot in purgatory rather than play him and possibly build trade value. At least he would be providing some sort of production for the team instead of being the elephant (not) in the room. This whole series of events is a failure in team building. Now the Cavs will buy out Drummond out so he can go play elsewhere for at team that actually wants him.

Cavs running out of time for Andre Drummond trade

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are running out of time if they are going to facilitate a trade that sends the center elsewhere.

The NBA trade deadline is just a day away and the Cleveland Cavaliers are up against the clock when it comes to Andre Drummond. The team has been attempting to find a trade for Drummond with no luck. Drummond has not appeared in a game since February 12th when the team decided he was no longer going to be part of the team. Considering that most of the talk surrounding Drummond has not been on the trade market, this series of events only looks worse and worse.

Most of the discussions in regards to Andre Drummond is on the buyout market, which would be a complete failure on the part of the Cavaliers. The reason that certain teams are irrelevant and stay irrelevant is that they end up buying out players only for contending teams to scoop them up. There are plenty of teams rumored to be in the Drummond market if/once a buyout happens, but not a lot on the trade market.

Before the Cavs decide to do what seems to be inevitable they need to examine the trade market until the deadline. If they can get something, anything in return for Andre Drummond they should do it. Even if the trade package is bad, it is better than buying a player out and getting literally nothing in return. Time is running out for the Cavs and they need to figure out what they’re doing ASAP. The team decided to tank rather than play someone who not only makes the team more watchable, but better as well.

Lakers interested in Andre Drummond

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The Los Angeles Lakers are interested in signing the Cleveland Cavaliers center if a buyout is reached.

To the surprise of pretty much no one there is not really a trade market for Cavs center Andre Drummond. Drummond is in the final year of his contract which has a $28.7+ million salary for this season. This salary has been an obstacle for the Cavaliers as they have searched for a trade partner. Should Cleveland not be able to find one, a buyout could be reached. If Drummond is bought out, the Los Angeles Lakers would be interested in a deal according to reports.

As Marc Stein also states, the Cavs prefer to find a trade parter to get something in return. If Cleveland gets anything for Andre Drummond that would be a huge win. Drummond really doesn’t fit in the modern NBA and is not really appealing to teams looking to stretch the floor.

Cleveland made the decision to trade and not play Andre Drummond which hasn’t not helped their cause. Drummond has not played since February 12th and it is not easy to trade a player that is not on the court. A similar, but more intense situation took place with the Cavs and J.R. Smith which led to the team eventually waiving the veteran guard in July of 2019. While the end result may be the same, the way it plays out for Drummond seems to be a lot less tumultuous than Smith.

Knicks “frontrunner” for Andre Drummond

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The New York Knicks have been identified as a frontrunner according to reports for the Cleveland Cavaliers center.

It is not a question of if, but when Andre Drummond is no longer a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. A report from Sam Amico of FortyEightMinutes identifies a possible favorite, the New York Knicks.

According to one league source, the Knicks are the “frontrunner” for Drummond.

A source to Sam Amico about where Andre Drummond could land

The Lakers and Mavericks were also mentioned in the report, but only after a buyout, something that Cleveland doesn’t seem in a rush to do.

At the end of the day it is a real shame that the Cavaliers did not give Andre Drummond a real chance to establish himself in Cleveland. Apparently 33 games was all that the Cavs needed to see before deciding to move on.

Andre Drummond on Knicks radar

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The New York Knicks could be a landing spot for the veteran center.

Andre Drummond to the Knicks? That indeed could be a possibility as the Cleveland Cavaliers evaluate their potential trade partners. According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the Knicks are keeping tabs on Drummond and evaluating whether or not he could be a fit for the team. Berman had the following to say about the Knicks as a possible landing spot for Drummond.

According to an NBA source who has been in touch with the Knicks, the club has made no decisions, but are “analyzing” whether making a play for on-the-block Cavaliers center Andre Drummond makes sense from a chemistry and winning standpoint. The Knicks are the NBA’s lowest-scoring team.

Marc Berman on the Knicks possible interest in Drummond.

Berman would later add that New York could use some of their second round picks in addition to players on the outside looking in such as Austin Rivers or Frank Ntilikina to send the Cavaliers way.

Considering that the Cavs are not playing Andre Drummond again and they are better off trading him for something rather than buying him out, this wouldn’t be the worst idea. Adding one of the above mentioned players could give Cleveland a guard off the bench behind Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.

The Cavaliers just need to figure out which trade package they can get which best suits rebuilding efforts. Maybe it is what the Knicks offer or it could possibly be what a different team proposes in a separate trade.

Cavaliers fall short in Phoenix 119-113

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It was a close game late, but the Cleveland Cavaliers were not able to put things together late as they lose to the Phoenix Suns.

With 2:26 left to play the Cleveland Cavaliers held a two-point lead thanks to an Isaac Okoro free throw. Unfortunately the Cavs did not score for the remainder of the game while the Phoenix Suns scored eight straight points en route to a 119-113 victory.

It was a competitive game for the most part, minus the period midway in the 2nd quarter where Cavaliers found themselves down 12 points. Cleveland is obviously not playing with a full hand right now as they are without Kevin Love and the recently injured Larry Nance Jr. If the Cavs had either player available this game possibly could have turned out differently.

Non-traditional frontcourt for Cleveland means leaning on starting backcourt

Speaking of the absences of Love and Nance, Cleveland deployed an interesting frontcourt duo, Andre Drummond and Jarrett Allen both in the starting lineup. This is a combination that may deserve a bit more run in the future. While three-point shooting is no longer an option with both on the court, they have a distinct advantage down low that no team can match. The Cavs are not a team that take a ton of threes and the players that do shouldn’t be. Cleveland might as well lean hard into the big men concept that is evident all over their roster. Allen had 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, and 1 assist in his first start for Cleveland while Drummond had his usual double-double with 15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 2 blocks.

Considering the combo of Drummond and Allen in the starting lineup, the Cavs needed their other three starters to step up, primarily Collin Sexton and Darius Garland. Sexton was fantastic with 23 points on 10-15 shooting including 2 of 4 from deep and making his lone free throw attempt. Young Bull also had 5 assists and 2 rebounds on the night. Garland’s shooting efficiency wasn’t great (17 points on 6-18 FG), but he was able to make one three, all four free throws and assist on 7 other baskets.

Yet again the Cavs got a sizable contribution from Taurean Prince off the bench. Prince finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 25 minutes. With Allen taking the spot in the starting lineup, Cleveland needed someone to step up off the bench and that was Prince. If the Cavaliers continue to use the Allen-Drummond combo in the starting lineup, Prince could prove to be very important.

Things will not get easier as the Cavs continue their road trip Wednesday in Denver as they take on the Nuggets at 9:00 P.M.

Toronto interested in Andre Drummond

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The Toronto Raptors have interest in acquiring the Cleveland Cavaliers center should the team make him available.

From now until the trade deadline there are going to be constant rumors about whether or not the Cleveland Cavaliers trade center Andre Drummond. In a post on The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor noted that the Toronto Raptors have interest in Drummond.

Andre Drummond is the biggest name. Drummond will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and had an extremely limited trade market one year ago when the Pistons dealt him to Cleveland. The Raptors are among the teams interested in Drummond now, league sources say.

Kevin O’Connor in regards to the Raptors interest in Andre Drummond

This comes after stating the obvious, that things are not going well in Cleveland. The Cavaliers have struggled as of late, going 3-7 in their last 10 games, and being a team that just does not have enough juice to compete for a full 48 minutes. Cleveland has struggled in the second half in three consecutive games. Losses to the Clippers and back-to-back losses to the Bucks Friday and Saturday have made their issues more apparent over the last week.

Now that they are without Larry Nance Jr. for as much as six weeks, the team could trade away valuable pieces should the slide continue. There is going to be a market for Andre Drummond if they choose to trade him, but the team has to be in a position to pull the plug on the season first. A scenario that appears to be coming sooner rather than later.

Bucks too much for Cavaliers again

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The Cleveland Cavaliers did not have any better luck when facing the Milwaukee Bucks for the second time in as many nights.

It turns out getting an instant chance for redemption did not turn out any better for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After losing 123-105 on Friday, the Cavs were not able to change their fortunes on Saturday as they lost 124-99 to Milwaukee. It was the second straight double-digit loss at home to the Bucks and one thing is abundantly clear if it wasn’t before, the Cavaliers are not ready yet.

The rematch essentially followed the same pattern as the first game. It was close through halftime, but Milwaukee extended their lead to double-digits midway through the 3rd. After that, the Bucks ran away with a 25-point win after at one point leading by 30.

There are two areas that instantly jump out for the Cavaliers, turnovers and three-point shooting. Cleveland lost the turnover battle 15-9, 10 of which were steals by the Bucks. A team like the Cavs cannot afford to commit that many turnovers and expect to be in the game. As far as three-point shooting goes, Friday’s 11 makes from deep might be the anomaly. The Cavs went 6-28 from three while Milwaukee was 16-34, that’s a 30-point difference, more than the the final score differential.

Darius Garland is a steady presence

If there is one thing to takeaway from this game it is that Darius Garland is steady as stead can be. The Cavaliers guard just seems to give a similar performance game in and game out. Garland had 17 points and 9 assists on 7-12 from the field (1-5 3PT), and made both free throw attempts. While the wins are not frequent right now, when they do come he will be a big reason why.

Double-double Drummond

A bright spot for the Cavaliers Saturday was that Andre Drummond had a pretty impressive night. Drummond finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals on the night. Drummond’s 28 points were a game-high and was tied for a game-high in rebounds. This was the 17th double-double for Drummond on the season in 22 games played.

Prince pours in 12

Taurean Prince might be the best bench player for the Cavs not named Jarrett Allen. Prince moved back to the bench as Larry Nance Jr. returned to the lineup and scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (2-3 3PT) and also had 3 rebounds and 1 assist.

The Cavaliers begin a five game road trip staring Monday in Phoenix

Another poor second half leads to Cavaliers loss

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It was another disappointing second half for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they were outscored 63-42 by the Milwaukee Bucks.

For the second straight game it was a poor second half which led to a loss for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was a 22-point loss to the Clippers on Wednesday and it was an 18-point loss to the Bucks Friday. The Cavs actually held a 63-60 lead going into the half, but they were simply unable to keep up with Milwaukee. The game was still relatively competitive until about 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter, the Bucks were able to stretch the lead to double-digits shortly after and it continued to grow. It was a 123-105 final score in Cleveland as they fall to 10-13 on the year.

This was just a case of the Cavaliers not being on the same tier as the Bucks. Milwaukee is a championship caliber team while Cleveland is a team that might squeak into the playoffs. The fact that the Bucks shut down the Cavs offense for a large part of the second half just shows that they have a long way to go.

Cleveland’s’ backcourt duo of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland scored 19 and 13 points respectively and both had 4 assists each.

Andre Drummond was the Cavs second-highest scorer with 18 points. Drummond also had 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals.

It was another spot start for Taurean Prince as Larry Nance Jr. was unavailable for this game. Prince was 4-7 from three-point range and missed his other three field goal attempts, finishing with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

Cedi Osman continues to be sort of frustrating to watch. Osman took 8 threes and only made 2. Osman finished the game 4-11 from the field and made both free throws while adding 3 rebounds and 1 assist to his final line.

A perfect shooting night for Jarrett Allen which surpassingly included a three-pointer. Allen was 3-3 from the field with the aforementioned three and made all six free throw attempts. Allen had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks off the bench.

The Cavaliers are back in action Saturday night for Game 2 of this back-to-back matchup with the Bucks.

A second rounder for Andre Drummond?

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A report states that the Cleveland Cavaliers may only be able get a second rounder or two in exchange for their center.

A report posted to Hoops Hype was discussing what the Cleveland Cavaliers could get in return for Andre Drummond and they are underwhelming. The story said the following in regards to a possible return for the he 27-year old center.

Four of the executives polled felt Cleveland could get one or two second-round picks in exchange for Drummond.

Poll of executives in the report on Hoops Hype

Not exactly an enticing package for Cleveland. Part of the issue is how much Andre Drummond is making and that is mentioned in the article

“He’s a premier rebounder,” one Eastern Conference executive told HoopsHype. “However, on the flip side, he’s an impending free agent making $28 million. Therefore, a contender needs to send out multiple players (likely dead weight) and an asset (a second-round pick or possibly two).”

The salary issue when it comes to Drummond from Hoops Hype

Is it really worth taking on dead weight for a second round pick (or two) for the sake of trading Andre Drummond? Not really. There is still the possibility that the Cavs can workout a new deal with the veteran center and trading him for the hell of it is not really a smart idea. The fact of the matter is Cleveland is a team in the playoff hunt for one of the lower seeds. While that may be a consolation prize for most of the teams vying for the postseason, it is about making progress as an organization. Getting out of the basement of the Eastern Conference without LeBron James on the roster would be a massive step forward. Keeping Andre Drummond on the roster may make the possibility a reality.