A month ago, people were wondering what was going through Daryl Morey’s head. Fans were vocally upset with the way the Sixers’ front office is handling the Ben Simmons situation, and many thought the Sixers didn’t do enough this offseason to improve the roster around the edges. Well, they all look pretty silly now.
Andre Drummond dominates the middle for the Sixers
When I saw that the Sixers had signed Andre Drummond, my reaction was lukewarm at best. Over the last few years, Drummond has developed a pretty bad reputation among NBA fans as a guy who puts up huge stats and never wins. Last year with the Lakers seemed to confirm that. He’s also been rumored to be hard to coach, and not the hardest working guy in practice. Plus, he and Joel Embiid have a… rocky past.
So far this season, he’s putting all of that to rest. Over 127 minutes in 7 games, Drummond is a +29 on the court. No disrespect to Dwight Howard, who I love, but this is night and day from seasons past. Not only has he been able to give reliable minutes (and lower the workload on Embiid from night to night), but when Embiid sat the other night Drummond stepped in with a huge performance. He finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and five steals with ZERO turnovers. That’s incredible basketball.
He has been active on defense this year in a way that he wasn’t in the past. His defensive box plus minus is a 2.7, which is easily a career high so far. His defensive rating on the court is a 90, which is pretty jaw dropping and also a career best. He’s still one of the best rebounders in the league and is averaging over 18 per 36 minutes. Assists and steals per 36 are similarly at career best. Simply put, the stats are great and the eye test is even better.
Andre Drummond is making his $2.4 million contract look like one of the best bargains in the league, and making Daryl Morey look like a very smart man. If the worst we have to stomach from him is a few hilariously bad no look passes, then Sixers fans should be thankful. Enjoy it while it lasts, because if he plays this way all season he’s gonna get paid in free agency.
Georges Niang is more than the Sixers’ new stretch four
THE MINIVAN! Georges Niang came over from Utah this offseason and has become the talk of the town, and for good reason. He has been shooting flames from his fingertips all year and is one of the main reasons the Sixers are third in the league in 3-point percentage. Fans have been begging for bonafide shooters for years, and Niang is delivering.
He is +38 through 171 minutes, shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc, and averaging career bests in points, assists, and blocks. I wrote about Niang’s success last week, so I’m not going to beat this to death, but WOW has he been impressive. Forget being the Sixers best offseason move, he’s starting to look like one of the best pickups of the offseason in the entire league.
His two-year, $6.7 million contract looks incredible, and there really isn’t much else to say about him. Please never leave us Georges. Now lets talk about development.