When Daryl Morey and the Sixers signed Andre Drummond this season, it was for moments like the one upcoming on Wednesday night. Andre Drummond will be starting in place of Joel Embiid for the season opener and at least the first week of games after the former MVP was ruled out.
Embiid has been ramping up this season as he deals with the team’s load management plan after his surgery on his left knee last season. Embiid played and won gold in Paris for Team USA but seems to be taking in slow as he gets ready for the NBA season.
When Morey signed Drummond, he envisioned having a high-quality starter-level backup for when Embiid subs out and a starter for when he doesn’t play. Last season, the Sixers struggled with Paul Reed and Mo Bamba spending extended minutes at the five. Drummond showed, both in his first stint in Philadelphia and his time in Chicago, that he can still be a force rebounder and rim protector.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps spoke with Drummond during a recent interview around the start of training camp. Drummond spoke about being recruited by Joel Embiid to return to Philadelphia, “Getting a phone call from the best center in the NBA saying, ‘I need you here’… it’s hard to tell him no. He just gave me an idea of what he was looking for and he needed me to come back to really help him out to win something bigger than him.”
For the first week of the season and many more games this season, the Sixers will count on Drummond to help the Sixers on the board, be a deterrent at the rim, and score easy buckets around the rim. When he signed with Philly, he knew he would be an integral part of keeping Embiid healthy, but he may not have thought his presence would matter on opening night. Drummond has a chance to show his worth immediately, and it looks like he is up for the challenge.
As for his first start, Drummond is ready to go.
“I’m excited more than anything,” Drummond said. “I’m excited to get this start and to be able to showcase myself, to really show that I am capable of still being a starter in this league… I’m just excited to help my team get a victory tomorrow.”
