Re-introducing 76ers fans to the best backup center in the Embiid era

Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond didn’t always get along. Dating back to 2017, the two big men have had more than their fair share of appearances in the news regarding their highly anticipated matchups and playful trash talk. Back in those clashes between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Detroit Pistons, it was often Embiid who had the upper hand with 30-point performances and Drummond getting into foul trouble.

Fast forward to 2021, Embiid and Drummond became teammates. Before getting traded to Brooklyn as part of the James Harden deal, Drummond became a fan favorite in Philadelphia, appearing in 49 games and starting in 12. While in Philly, he recorded 6.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in just 18.4 minutes per game. 

The 76ers stand to improve in non-Embiid minutes with Andre Drummond

In his brief tenure with the 76ers in 2021, there were two primary things that Drummond provided as a backup to the 2023 MVP that fans were not accustomed to seeing. 

Firstly, the reason that Drummond became a fan favorite was because of his ability to help the Sixers better “survive” the non-Embiid minutes. Don’t get it wrong, there’s a significant drop-off from Embiid to him, but not as drastic as what the team had dealt with in recent years.

Just reminisce their playoff series against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. Overall, the 76ers were dominant with Joel Embiid on the floor. However, with him on the bench, the Raptors took advantage and were able to win the series in seven, tight games. Considering the way the team performed with Embiid on the floor, it was a major problem rooted in the team’s bench that cost them that series.

Secondly, Drummond started in 12 games for Philly during the that campaign. Aside from him, the team has not had a backup big man who can be inserted into the starting lineup and collect double-doubles with relative ease. Neither Paul Reed nor Mo Bamba supplied that kind of production last season when they were forced to take a bigger piece of the pie.

If you think that the two-time All-Star is washed, just look at what he did in Chicago last season. In 79 games played with the Bulls, he collected 708 rebounds in 1,351 minutes played. No player in NBA history has ever rebounded the basketball on a per-minute rate better than Andre Drummond in 2023-24. 

76ers fans, Andre Drummond is back, and there’s good reason to believe that he will pick up where he left off and make his second go-round in Philly potentially even more productive than the first.