Philadelphia 76ers: Andre Drummond is a perfect Charlotte Hornets target

If you decided to take the week off from watching basketball while the Philadelphia 76ers are on a mini-hiatus, no one would blame you. The season is long, baseball just started, and things are about to get really intense for the lone team that calls the Wells Fargo Center home who actually earned a playoff berth.

If, however, you did decide to watch the play-in round, then you, my friends, have been met with some truly unique basketball that probably won’t have an impact on the Sixers, especially if they can’t take care of the Toronto Raptors semi-down Matisse Thybulle. You’ve watched Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant go off, witnessed Trae Young drop 24 and 11 on the way to a date with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Minnesota Timberwolves break their seemingly endless playoff drought – real time? Five years – with a Monday night win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

The non-bright spot of the pre-playoff playoffs? That would be the Charlotte Hornets and their center spot, to be more specific.

While the Hornets can certainly score and have one of the more exciting young cores in the NBA thanks to the dynamic trio of LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, and Miles Bridges – should he be retained – the team’s interior defense is brutal, with their three not-so dynamic primary centers, Mason Plumlee, Montrezl Harrell, and P.J. Washington lacking quite a bit in the defensive department.

With the season officially over for Michael Jordan’s club, the Charlotte Hornets must now look ahead to free agency in order to hopefully shore up their deficiencies and make another run at it before LaMelo Ball is signed to a super-max contract. The first thing they should do? Sign ex-Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond, who is ideally suited for such a role.

The Philadelphia 76ers may have to deal with Drummond for years to come.

When Andre Drummond signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, it was out of necessity.

After agreeing to a buyout from his max contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Drummond played 21 largely underwhelming regular season games with the Los Angeles Lakers and was notoriously benched in the team’s Game 7 bout against the Phoenix Suns by now-fired head coach Frank Vogel. While a few teams did show a bit of interest in his services, Doc Rivers came calling, and just like that, the Philadelphia 76ers secured the best backup center of the Joel Embiid era.

During his abbreviated run with the Sixers, Drummond’s game was a ton of fun. He’d occasionally facilitate the offense from the top of the key, throw trick passes that didn’t always hit their mark, and provide solid play at both ends of the court, as his 6.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in just 18.4 minutes per game clearly showcased. If Drummond wasn’t going to be an every game starter, let alone a star, why not showcase his talents in abbreviated action behind an MVP candidate and try it all again in 2022?

As it turns out, Drummond’s decision worked out better than he could have ever imagined.

Since arriving in Brooklyn, Drummond has returned to the starting lineup full time and has become a walking double-double night-in and night-out. His numbers, both real and Per 36, have returned to starting-caliber, and some team will surely fall in love with the idea of his game in their gymnasium.

Will that team be Brooklyn? Possibly, but with no Bird Rights to speak of and a bloated cap hit on the books, the most they could offer is the taxpayer mid-level exception – worth roughly $6.339 million –  or a veteran minimum offer. The Charlotte Hornets, by contrast, have a non-taxpayer mid-level exception worth up to $10.264 million per season and the potential to sign him in free agency outright if they opt to release Mason Plumlee, forfeit Montrezl Harrell’s cap holding, and wait to sign Bridges until after Drummond’s contract is on the books.

After making north of $138 million over his career thus far, something tells me Drummond wouldn’t mind signing a new contract with an AAV of $10 million if it meant playing for a fun young Hornets squad with a big need at the starting five spot.

Like Harrell, Drummond could be a lob threat and screen setter for guards like LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Isaiah Thomas, and… Russell Westbrook(?) and provide the rim protection the NBA’s other Nets, the HorNets, clearly lacked in their one-game playoff against the Atlanta Hawks.

If you’re looking to compile a list of perfect free agency pairings, this one has to rank right up there with Robert Covington and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Building a successful team is hard, especially for a small-market team that isn’t exactly a free agent destination. First, a team needs to find a star to build around, like the Charlotte Hornets did with LaMelo Ball, and the Philadelphia 76ers did with Joel Embiid. That’s the hard part, but filling out the roster with complementary pieces is no easy task either, as, well, every team but the Memphis Grizzlies can attest. For the Hornets to take their next step forward, they need to find a center who can hang with Ball and his buddies and help the team collectively take a step forward. Fortunately, Andre Drummond perfectly fits that bill and could probably be had within the team’s price range. Do it, MJ: Just do it.