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NBA: The Association’s All-Future Team

By Maxwell Ogden

Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins (22) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 27, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins (22) and center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 21, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) smiles after the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons win 92-91. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) smiles after the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons win 92-91. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

F/C: Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons

Position: Center

Age: 22 (8/10/1993)

Drafted: Round 1, Pick 9 (2012)

Slash Line: .522/.333/.357

Season Averages: 33.1 MPG, 16.5 PPG, 14.9 RPG, 4.9 ORPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.4 BPG

In an era that’s supposedly guard-dominated, the future appears to be geared more towards big men than any other breed of player. That much can be seen in the fact that Andre Drummond is currently leading the Detroit Pistons to a resurgent 2015-16 campaign.

Most are well-aware of the fact that Drummond is a double-double machine who leads the league in rebounding, but not enough attention goes to the fact that he’s become this dominant force at 22 years old.

Drummond’s free throw shooting is atrocious, and that’s being acknowledge upfront so we can move forward. It will be an issue until he, at the very least, is able to make one of every two attempts—and yes, he’s that far away from 50 percent.

Here’s the thing: Drummond is already showing such incredible signs of progression that it’d be naive to act as though his free throw shooting is the only area of his game worth acknowledging.

When players are posting numbers like that, and Drummond routinely does, they deserve to be acknowledged as the stars they are.

Drummond is on pace to be the fourth player to average at least 15.0 points and 14.0 rebounds at age 22 or younger over the past 40 seasons. The players joining Drummond are Moses Malone in 1977-78, Dwight Howard in 2007-08, and Kevin Love in 2010-11.

Drummond is being groomed to be the Pistons’ version of Howard, and Stan Van Gundy—the man who coached D-12 to the NBA Finals—is the perfect coach to make that happen.

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It’s not hard to see why Detroit believes he can be that player.