Detroit Pistons: Andre Drummond Is The Next Dwight Howard

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Mar 1, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) attempts to block a shot by Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) during the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

The Differences

That’s not to say these two players are identical at these respective points in their careers, however. Andre Drummond has the same kind of awe-inspiring two-way potential that Dwight Howard grew into, but as an offensive weapon, there are quite a few stark differences between the two.

Just take a look at how their scoring output shook out over their third seasons and you’ll see that the majority of Drummond’s buckets came on assisted alley-oops, put-backs and tip-ins:

2014-15 Drummond:

494 made FGs
101 alley-oops (20.4%)
167 dunks (33.8%)
157 layups (31.8%)
70 tip shots (14.2%)
34 on put-backs (6.9%)
286 assisted (57.9%), 208 unassisted (42.1%)

2006-07 Howard:

526 made FGs
57 alley-oops (10.8%)
254 dunks (48.3%)
126 layups (24.0%)
14 tip shots (2.7%)
30 follow-up dunks (5.7%)
293 assisted (55.7%), 233 unassisted (44.3%)

Howard’s frequent post-ups led to more turnovers when double-teams collapsed, but he was still far more efficient around the basket than Drummond, whose field goal percentage dipped from 62.3 percent in 2013-14 to 51.4 percent last year and 41.3 percent so far this season.

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With the Pistons adopting a similar offense to Orlando’s, which will rely on ball movement and pick-and-rolls to spread the floor and find open shooters, Drummond will need to be able to command double-teams down low and locate those shooters when the help defense collapses — either in post-up situations or as the roll guy after setting a screen.

As a roll guy, Drummond is starting to look like he can be a lethal offensive weapon, especially if he can continue to improve his free throw percentage. But so far this season, Drummond has gone 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) on post-ups. For the most part, his offensive output comes from offensive rebounds like this:

That’s not to say this is necessarily a bad thing; it’s just a nuance that separates himself from Howard. While D-12 was a more refined, efficient post scorer, Drummond still has a lot of work to do with that area of his game before he starts commanding regular double-teams.

However, Drummond is a terrifying offensive rebounder, so it’s okay that the majority of his points come in that fashion. The Pistons’ center currently leads the NBA in offensive rebounds per game at 6.3, with the league’s second-best mark coming in at 4.3.

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But even with those differences, Andre Drummond is clearly on the right path to emulating the career of Dwight Howard, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year who once carried a group of role players to the NBA Finals.

Though Drummond still needs to improve as a post player and interior defender to become the next Dwight Howard, the similarities between the two — and between the types of role players that Orlando had then and that Detroit has now — should have Pistons fans feeling very good about the future…especially when you remember it was Howard’s fifth season that saw him emerge as an MVP candidate who carried the Magic to the Finals.

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