The 10 most underrated NBA players of the 2010s
6. Andre Drummond
It’s not crazy to suggest Andre Drummond is the best rebounder of the decade and subsequently one of the best the league has ever seen.
Consider a bevy of statistical achievements from the Detroit Pistons big man that fly under the radar given his offensive limitations on a middling Pistons team: He ranks third in total rebounds since 2010, yet places just 22nd in games played, having entered the NBA in 2012.
Drummond has led the league in rebounds per game three of the last four seasons and is on pace to claim that title once again in 2019-20. He’s led the NBA in total rebounds since his fourth season and offensive rebounds since his sophomore campaign.
How Andre Drummond became an all-time rebounder (via @D_Lubofsky) https://t.co/xJtqXZJh6i pic.twitter.com/v4crvlzbpF
— HoopsHabit (@HoopsHabit) November 28, 2019
Over what is now a seven-year career, Drummond has averaged 14.3 points, 13.8 rebounds — which ranks eighth all-time — 1.6 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. The only players in NBA history to match those numbers are *checks list* Andre Drummond.
In the age where 7-footers step further beyond the arc and mold their games after their shorter contemporaries, Drummond is the outlier, a throwback to the paint-oriented and physically imposing center.
He is who he is at this point, which does limit his offensive ceiling and the overall potential of the Pistons. Who Drummond is, however, is arguably the closest to Dennis Rodman the league has seen with an innate understanding of maximizing his talents to historic proportions.