Philadelphia 76ers: (Re)watch Andre Drummond get nothing but ball

Andre Drummond is a starting NBA center.

He’s a criminally underrated rebounder – even if he benefits from hauling in a few of his own – a fierce blocker and the sort of big-bodied rim protector who can fill in for Joel Embiid with only the slightest bit of a defensive downgrade.

Is Drummond for everybody? No. I would imagine about half of the teams in the NBA would rather roll with a more athletic big man built for a switching scheme or a hybrid big with a bit more touch from outside, but for a team that values interior points scoring, some nifty playmakers, and an imposing presence in the paint, well, there quite literally isn’t a better value in the NBA than Drummond.

And in the Philadelphia 76ers‘ hometown showdown against the Toronto Raptors, Andre Drummond put his defensive pedigree on full display with an absolute monster dunk on an unsuspecting Precious Achiuwa.

Rewatch Drummond continue to shine as the Philadelphia 76ers’ second center.

In the waning moments of the Philadelphia 76ers’ bout against the Toronto Raptors, Doc Rivers‘ squad needed a spark to get back into the game.

Sure, they had Tyrese Maxey, who ultimately finished out the game with 33 points in 40 minutes of action, but he scored his final points of the game at the 2:31 mark of the fourth quarter, with the offense as a whole going flat for the better part of a minute after that point.

Andre Drummond put it upon himself to fix that.

It started on offense when Drummond cleaned up the glass after a Tobias Harris miss and threw it down for a quick two to put the Sixers up two with 1:44 to go. This forced Nick Nurse to call a timeout and get his ducks in a row for what would be the most important two minutes of the game. He’d have Fred VanVleet get the ball into the paint, score a quick two with Precious Achiuwa, and live to fight another possession with the score tied up.

Drummond, fortunately, had other plans.

My goodness, that is just fantastic.

Much like Joel Embiid’s block from earlier this season, the play was initially called a foul, but that was reversed after a rare challenge win by Rivers, which set the team up for a jump ball with a chance to win it all.

Unfortunately, that didn’t go well.

After losing the possession to VanVleet, the Sixers were outscored 8-0 and the team snatched a moral victory out of the jaws of a real one, but hey, that block was pretty sweet, right? On a day where Joel Embiid was out with COVID, and Ben Simmons was making headlines for very different reasons, you’ll take a quality effort from Drummond and Maxey at “The Center,” right?

Will Andre Drummond be a starter once more? Yes, I wholeheartedly believe he will. Some team like the New York Knicks or Charlotte Hornets will surely swoop in and sign him up to play alongside a young scorer LaMelo Ball or RJ Barrett as a two-way blocking paint presence. But for now? Now, Andre Drummond is a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, and believe you me, fans are delighted to have him.