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Can Andre Drummond Save Anthony Davis from Having to Play the Five?

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One of the most tantalizing possibilities from signing Andre Drummond as the Lakers’ starting center is the possibility he might enable Anthony Davis to completely avoid playing the five for the rest of the season and playoffs.

We already know Davis prefers to play the four and the Lakers want to accommodate him to limit the physicality and banging of having him play the five, especially considering his longtime history of being injury prone. Last year, AD played more than 25% of his minutes at center in the regular season and more than 60% during the playoffs. This year that percentage has plummeted to less than 10% of his minutes during this regular season.

So it’s not a stretch to assume one of the Lakers’ motivations last offseason was to replace JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard with centers who could play more minutes to reduce the time Anthony Davis would play at center. While Gasol and Harrell were able to play enough minutes to allow Davis to stay at power forward, they were unable to provide the rim protection that had been an integral component of last year’s regular season defense.

Fortunately, the Lakers were able to sign Andre Drummond from the buyout market, giving them a proven 27-year old center who averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 boards, 2.6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 28.9 minutes per game. The Lakers hope they struck gold with Drummond and found not only a shot blocker to solve their rim protection woes but also a mobile and nimble big who could stay on the floor when they turn up the defensive pressure.

Drummond being able to successfully function in the aggressive trapping, doubling, and rotating team defense the Lakers unleashed in last year’s playoffs to win the championship is not as crazy and farfetched as it seems. Andre has incredibly quick feet and hands for a 6′ 10,” 280 lbs player and leads all centers with 1.6 steals to go along with his 1.2 blocks per game. And that was while not focusing on defense while playing on losing teams.

Motivated and committed to playing elite level defense, Andre Drummond potentially has the physical talents to not only be the Lakers’ starting center but also to play the five in what used to be their ‘small ball’ closing defense. The possibility Andre could learn to play the five so Anthony could play the four when the Lakers deploy their lethal switching and rotating defense is intoxicating and could be the key to the team repeating as champions.

Replacing Markieff Morris with Andre Drummond could make the Lakers ‘Death Lineup’ defense even more lethal. A front court with three long bigs like James, Davis, and Drummond could be intimidating and dominating. Their length alone could put a virtual lid on the basket and narrow the passing lanes from freeways to sidewalks while their mobility and quickness could suffocate opposing teams with a trio of pterodactyls chasing the ball.

Andre Drummond playing full-time at the five and allowing Anthony Davis to play most of the game at the four opens up important minutes at the five for forgotten man Montrezl Harrell, who now becomes the backup center. Harrell getting 20 minutes per game off the bench to do his thing is one of the big advantages of Drummond saving Davis from playing the five. It could even free minutes for Gasol to play the five against certain matchups.

While the Lakers won’t be able to re-sign him, Drummond could provide a template for the Lakers to follow this summer and trade for a modern center like Myles Turner so Anthony Davis could avoid playing the five.

Now That Lakers Have Dre, How Do They Still Take Advantage of Trezz?

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Lakers coach Frank Vogel and his staff have a major challenge to figure out how to still take advantage of Montrezl Harrell since the signing of Andre Drummond is going to create a big minutes crunch at the center position.

Since the start of the second half of the season, the Lakers have discovered how to unleash Montrezl Harrell to be the major offensive force he was last year as 6MOY by featuring him in pick-and-rolls to let him attack the rim. The result has been Trezz averaging 20.2 points and 6.8 boards in 29.9 minutes in the 10 games since the All-Star break versus 13.8 points and 6.4 boards in 24.1 minutes per game for the 37 games before the break.

Trezz is a powerful offensive weapon off the bench that Frank Vogel and the Lakers’ coaching staff needs to find a way to still take advantage now that they’ve signed Andre Drummond to replace Marc Gasol as starting center. The challenge is how to get Harrell the minutes off the bench to continue to impact the game the way he has when minutes at the center position are going to suddenly become scarce down the stretch and in the playoffs.

With Davis a few weeks from returning and Drummond still needing time to get back into shape after not playing for six weeks. the minutes crunch won’t rear its ugly head right away but it’s going to be a problem in the playoffs. Harrell is averaging 25.3 minutes per game, Gasol 19.8 minutes per game, and Drummond 28.9 minutes. Add Anthony Davis, who averaged 22.6 minutes at center in last year’s playoffs, and the total is 96.6 minutes.

For the record, that is actually more than double the 48 minutes is an NBA game, which means the Lakers’ coaching staff could face a monumental game of musical chairs at the center position once they get to the playoffs. Complicating the probable serious number crunch further is Frank Vogel declaring “he wants to be able to play Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell and Andre Drummond when the Lakers get to the postseason for flexibility.”

You have to love Vogel spreading the love and keeping all of his centers engaged but there’s going to be a major scarcity of minutes in the playoffs for every Lakers centers not named Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis. While it’s nice to have Gasol’s 3-point shooting and passing and Harrell’s energy and low post scoring in your back pocket, both are players who can only play one position and are simply bad fits alongside Drummond.

All of this assumes Andre Drummond will not only be the Lakers’ starting center in the playoffs but will also play big minutes. Whether that happens will obviously depend on how well he performs during the regular season. Should Andre follow the example set by Dwight and focus on being the player the Lakers need on defense and not the player he wants to be on offense, then he’ll earn a starting role and major minutes in the playoffs.

While Drummond will start, he’ll probably be limited to around 20 minutes per game due to his poor free throw shooting and the Lakers’ preference for Anthony Davis at the five and Markieff Morris at the four to close games. Assuming Marc Gasol is the odd man out, that leaves Drummond with 20 to 22 minutes of potential playing time at center with a good percentage of that time with Anthony Davis at the four covering his back defensively.

That would give the Lakers a breakdown in the playoffs of 20 to 22 minutes per game each for Drummond and Harrell at center and 4 to 8 minutes per game for Davis at center, which should help AD avoid low post physicality. That could be an excellent basic template for allocating center minutes in the playoffs with the actual playing time varying as needed for matchups when teams opt to go small or the Lakers need to ramp up their defense.

Montrezl Harrell has become too good a weapon off the bench for the Lakers not to prioritize figuring out how to still optimize him even if it means Andre Drummond and Anthony Davis playing fewer minutes as the five.

Will Drummond Change the Lakers Or the Lakers Change Drummond?

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There’ve been great conversations in the media and blogs whether Andre should change his game to match the Lakers’ needs or whether the Lakers should take advantage of his unique strengths and adjust their approach?

Now that Andre has reached agreement to join the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s going to be fascinating to find out exactly what his role on the team will be and how much the Lakers’ strategy on offense and defense will change. Drummond brings skills the Lakers need to repeat as champs, including elite rebounding, low post scoring, physical size, and solid rim protection. But integrating him into a championship team is not a simple slam dunk.

Drummond is looking at the starting center position on the Lakers as the perfect team and situation to best showcase his talents to convince a team to offer him a max contract as an unrestricted free agent next summer. Ideally, he wants to start and close games, play big minutes, and be featured on offense. Money and even the lure of a championship are not paramount. Drummond is primarily focused on helping his career, brand, and future.

The Lakers, of course, know all of this but they also needed to sell Andre that joining the Lakers would give him the ideal stage and best opportunity to show the world what he can accomplish playing on a championship team. The Lakers goal is a championship with everybody pulling in the same direction. That means Andre and the Lakers had to reach an important meeting of the minds to balance the needs of the player and team.

So let’s take a look at the role Drummond and the Lakers could have agreed upon and highlight the areas where the needs of the player and team could have conflicted and how those conflicts might have been resolved.

STARTING AND CLOSING

There’s no question Andre Drummond will be the Lakers’ starting center. The more important question is will he close games, especially once we get into the playoffs when the Lakers prefer to close with AD at the five?

While there will be matchups where LA may need Drummond and Davis on the floor together to close games, there’s no way the Lakers promised Andre that he would automatically be on the team’s closing lineup for every game. While Frank Vogel has usually stayed with a consistent starting lineup, he’s also always preferred to adjust who closes games for the Lakers, depending on the matchups and who’s been playing well. That’s not going to change.

While Andre is likely to be the starter most of the time, there may be games where teams go small and the Lakers decide to matchup. In the end, the Lakers and Andre have likely agreed coach Vogel would make those calls.

FEATURED ON OFFENSE

The Lakers are first and foremost LeBron James’ and Anthony Davis’ team and Andre Drummond signing with them is not going to change that. Andre will get his share of touches but he’ll still be the Lakers’ third option.

Whether the Lakers feature Andre Drummond on offense will be another decision that has to be matchup driven. The Lakers won’t have a problem dumping the ball inside to Andre if he has a clear cut matchup advantage. However, they’re not going to suddenly turn into a team whose top priority is to feed the ball into the post as if Andre Drummond was Shaquille O’Neal. Andre will get his opportunities but only within the flow of the game.

Drummond is smart enough to understand this is LeBron’s and AD’s team and knows that proving he can play winning basketball on a championship team will be worth more in free agency this summer than inflated stats.

MINUTES AND SHOTS

Andre Drummond will average around 32 minutes per game depending on matchups, which is in line with his recent and career numbers. But there will be sporadic games where he’ll play fewer minutes due to matchups.

As for shots, Drummond averaged a career high 15.2 shots per game for the Cavs this season. He’s not going to get that many shots with the Lakers, who will be looking for him to improve both his shot selection and efficiency. LeBron James averages 18.4 and Anthony Davis 16.7 shots per game for a total of 35.1 or about 40% of the team’s 86 shots per game. The only way Andre is going to get 15 shots per game is dominating the offensive glass.

Andre Drummond will be the Lakers third star when it comes to minutes, shots, and points scored but playing on the Lakers with LeBron should enable him to discover and showcase his best possible version as a player.

IMPACT ON ROSTER

Andre Drummond’s arrival will have major consequences for the Lakers’ current two centers, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell. Gasol will probably find himself playing rarely and Harrell his minutes dramatically reduced.

Vogel faces a daunting challenge distributing center minutes. Harrell is averaging 25.3 and Gasol 19.8 minutes per game. Without AD, that leaves just 16 minutes for the other centers if Andre plays 32 minutes per game. Until AD returns, Harrell should get most of the remaining minutes while Gasol sits. The big crunch will come when AD returns. Vogel may have to get creative to find minutes for Harrell with Davis to avoid losing his impact.

Once we’re in the playoffs and the Lakers go small and need Anthony Davis to play more minutes at the five defensively, Drummond and Harrell could both see their minutes and roles diminish significantly the deeper LA goes.

There’s no question signing Andre Drummond was a big and necessary move by the Lakers. They desperately needed more size and athleticism at the five than either Gasol or Harrell could provide to repeat as champions.

The big challenge now that Drummond is aboard is still finding a way to take advantage of Trezz’s great energy and scoring at the rim. Unfortunately, Drummond and Harrell together just doesn’t work in the modern NBA. Further complicating the situation, the Lakers may need Davis play the five in the playoffs even more this year than last year as neither Drummond or Harrell are great fits for the team’s championship defensive schemes.

The Lakers were fortunate to sign Andre Drummond and hopefully he and the team have agreed upon a role that will bring another championship but Frank Vogel and the coaches will have to figure out how to make it work.

Laker Trade Deadline Plans Revealed: Drummond In, Gasol and Harrell Out!

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Multiple NBA cognoscenti have confirmed centers Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell have been put on the trading block, which means Andre Drummond has agreed to join the Los Angeles Lakers once his Cavs’ buyout is complete.

While the timing could still be tricky, there’s no way the Lakers would be shopping the only two centers on their roster unless they were completely confident Andre Drummond was going to be available and sign with them. While nothing is certain until all the contracts are signed, it appears the Lakers are looking to go all-in on revamping their roster in the wake of the recent ankle injury that’s likely going to keep LeBron James our for weeks.

In addition to Gasol and Harrell, reports confirm the Lakers have also been shopping starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who signed a 3-year extension this offseason but has been mired in a horrendous slump. While Gasol’s and KCP’s trade values have plummeted, Montrezl Harrell’s value as a trading chip has never been higher as he’s expanded his game at both ends of the court and will be in line for a major raise in free agency.

The big question now is what will Rob Pelinka to be able to acquire in trade for Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to help the Lakers both until LeBron and AD return and to repeat as NBA champions? Assuming Drummond solves the starting center rim protection issues, the Lakers’ top priority short term has to be a true lead or point guard to run the offense and make plays for teammates until LeBron James returns.

Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol represent $23.8 million in potential outgoing salary. Since the Lakers are only $2 million below the hard cap, they can bring back $25.8 million in salary. With the Lakers looking for a true point guard and extension talks with Schroder possibly stalled, it’s not impossible the Lakers might be willing to include Dennis’ $15.5 million salary to pursue a player like Kyle Lowry.

Dennis Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol to the Raptors for Kyle Lowry might be a real possibility. Lowry and Drummond could keep the Lakers winning in the short term until LeBron and AD can come back. The Lakers could then trade Harrell, Matthews, McKinnie, and Dudley to the Hornets for Terry Rozier. Lowry and Rozier would be give the Lakers a dramatically upgraded backcourt with two volume 3-point shooters.

The Lakers would not only be able to thrive in the short term but would be better positioned to repeat as NBA champions with a starting lineup of Kyle Lowry, Terry Rozier, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Andre Drummond. They’d also have a strong bench and deep roster by keeping Talen Horton-Tucker, Alex Caruso, Kyle Kuzma, and Markieff Morris to back up the guard and forward positions and re-signing Damian Jones to backup center.

These are, of course, just two of the options Rob Pelinka and the Lakers might be considering. They would be smart to be looking at Lonzo Ball at point guard and Bogdan Bogdanovic and Victor Oladipo at shooting guard. The one thing that seems certain is the Lakers appear to have reached an agreement in principle with Andre Drummond and have now put Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Marc Gasol on the trading block.

And that is great news for Lakers fans as it show that Rob Pelinka realizes they simply cannot stand pat in the wake of LeBron’s injury. Instead, they must embrace this as a chance to rebuild the roster short and long term. While you never want to see a superstar player suffer an injury, this could turn out to be a blessing for the Lakers. The silver lining could be LeBron getting needed time off and the Lakers getting a roster building mulligan.

There’s nothing more exciting than NBA free agency and the trade deadline. Rob Pelinka has an opportunity to turn what appeared to be disaster that threatened the Lakers championship hopes into a brilliant transformation.

Do the Lakers Need to Rethink What They Need from the Center Position?

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In retrospect, the Lakers need to rethink what they need from the center position because signing JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol, and Montrezl Harrell as the team’s centers the past two years was a mistake.

The Lakers should look at Anthony Davis, their prototype modern center who can shoot threes or attack the rim on offense and protect the rim or guard the perimeter on defense, to see what they need from their centers. What the defense-first Lakers don’t need are old school low post defensive or offensive centers who can’t stretch the floor with 3-point shooting or play the trapping, doubling, and rotating championship defense the team plays.

JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard proved to be unplayable against most opponents in the playoffs last year as they lacked the mobility, speed, and quickness the Lakers needed to trap, switch and defend on the perimeter. Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell face a similar fate in the playoffs this year as their inability to block shots and protect the rim leaves them vulnerable to being played off the court defensively despite their value on offense.

The problem is the Lakers don’t appear to have learned from their mistakes picking centers the last two seasons as they are now supposedly pursuing centers who’ll solve rim protection issues but be unplayable in the playoffs. The Lakers need to trade for a starting center like Myles Turner or Nerlens Noel rather than settling for another team’s discards like Andre Drummond or Hassan Whiteside who can solve one problem but then create another.

Drummond and Whiteside might be able to help hold down the fort for the three to five weeks until Anthony Davis returns but both have the same perimeter defensive liabilities that ultimately doomed McGee and Howard. Signing one of them is like applying a band aid to a badly broken bone. After Anthony Davis’s recent injury scare, there’s no way the Lakers want to see him again playing 50% of his time at center come this year’s playoffs.

Myles Turner and Nerlens Noel are two trade candidates who are talented and young enough to be permanent rather than temporary solutions to the Lakers’ need to find a center to complement and protect Anthony Davis. Both are top-five rim protectors who are younger than Anthony Davis and have the physicality, athleticism, and toughness to protect him from having to defend bigger bruising centers like Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

Besides being top-five shot blockers, Turner and Noel have diverse offensive or defensive skill sets that set them apart from limited one dimensional centers like McGee, Howard, Gasol, Harrell, Drummond, and Whiteside. Turner is the prototype modern offensive center who can shoot the three and throw down lobs while Noel is the prototype modern defensive center who can both protect the rim and switch onto and defend smaller players.

In short, they simply can’t be played off the court defensively in the playoffs like the old school centers the Lakers signed over the last two years or are looking at from the buyout market, which is why they’re worth trading for. While it’s always difficult to break up a top-ranked defensive team, the Lakers know they will need a better rim protector in the playoffs than Gasol or Harrell or adding Drummond of Whiteside will be able to provide.

Defending their championship against the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz, or Brooklyn Nets will be a tougher challenge than the Lakers had to face in the bubble against the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Miami Heat. The Lakers need a solution to their center conundrum that works in the regular season and the playoffs. Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside, or some other candidate from the buyout market is not the right answer.

The Lakers would be smart to trade for Myles Turner or Nerlens Noel to permanently solve their rim protection issues, add a young starting center to protect AD, and double down on their championship caliber defense.