This season has not gone the way the Philadelphia 76ers and really, everyone envisioned before the campaign began. The team was pegged to be among the undisputed favorites to make it to the NBA Finals thanks to their abundance of talent, but what has dawned upon the team is sheer failure, at least for the most part.
While the 76ers have played well as of late, the fact remains that they are snugly seated outside the top-eight in the Eastern Conference. Currently, they are nine games below .500 — hardly an encouraging record for a franchise with championship, not merely playoff, ambitions.
A slew of Philly’s acquisitions during free agency have not panned out this season, some of which due to injury and others because of plain decline. For Andre Drummond, both are applicable, as the veteran center has fallen well short of expectations levied upon him when he returned to the team during the offseason.
The 76ers are rumored to be getting multiple suitors for veteran big man Andre Drummond
Drummond has visibly declined this season. After posting a very productive stint last season with the Bulls as a nightly double-double threat off the bench despite his menial playing time, he has turned out to be a liability for the 76ers on both ends.
While still a strong rebounder, he has struggled everywhere else. His finishing around the rim has suffered badly, and his complete lack of rim protection has been one of the many reasons why Philly has been lackadaisical defensively. He has also been so terrible on offense that Nick Nurse and the coaching staff have become comfortable going with Guerschon Yabusele as the full-time center in Joel Embiid’s absence.
As a result, it should not come as a surprise that the 76ers are shopping Drummond, who has another year left on his deal. Fortunately for the front office, it seems like they would not be needing any help endorsing his services to another team.
According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, several playoff teams have already called the 76ers to gauge Drummond’s availability. This gives an opportunity for the team to not only ship him before the trade deadline, but also seek a good return given that there is apparently some sort of a competition among bidders for his services.
The Philadelphia 76ers signed Andre Drummond in free agency to wide acclaim, but he has simply failed to move the needle for the team. Thus, a breakup is inevitable even if it may be too early to label him as a complete failure.