The Philadelphia 76ers are in the middle of a two-game road trip. During their Saturday night matchup against the Detroit Pistons, Sixers center Andre Drummond sprained his right ankle after landing awkwardly on the foot of Tobias Harris.
Drummond would exit the game with the help of Ricky Council IV and Justin Edwards. In his four minutes played, Drummond had accrued four points, three rebounds, and a steal. Monday afternoon, the Sixers announced that Drummond would miss the next three games, that being a Tuesday matchup against the Hornets in Charlotte and back-to-back home games against the Orlando Magic on Dec. 4 and Dec. 6.
The 2024-25 season hasn’t gone as planned for Drummond, as is the case with this entire Sixers team frankly. His simple stats, 8.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, seem fine enough, but his scoring and rebounding rates are significantly from last season, as is his efficiency.
Part of Drummond’s struggles has been related to the vastly inconsistent role he has dealt with all season. Drummond has floated in and out of the starting lineup, and his minutes have fluctuated. Joel Embiid has missed all but four games, and head coach Nick Nurse is continuously tinkering with the rotation, leading to an inconsistent role for most Sixers this season, including Drummond.
Despite his relative struggles, this certainly isn’t to suggest the Sixers are better off. The majority of the team has underperformed this season; Drummond’s struggles are not unique to him.
Philadelphia is at a nightly size disadvantage even at full strength. Now missing Joel Embiid and Drummond, the Sixers are forced to effectively play non-stop small ball. Guerschon Yabusele is likely to become the team’s starting center in the short term. Joel Embiid’s return to the team once they wrap up their road trip remains a possibility, but it’s still far from a certainty.
The Sixers could role out KJ Martin as the small-ball backup, and while he may have a role moving forward, rookie Adem Bona is likely to have plenty of opportunity to find a temporary spot in the rotation.
