Cleveland Cavaliers: The Andre Drummond Experience is off to a rough start

Acquired at the trade deadline for practically nothing, Andre Drummond has had a rough time in the early stages of his Cleveland Cavaliers career.

At the trade deadline of his eighth season with the Detroit Pistons, Andre Drummond was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the low price of John Henson and Brandon Knight‘s expiring contracts and the lesser of the Cavs and Golden State Warriors 2023 second-round draft pick.

Drummond has a player option worth $28.75 million in the summer and by all accounts should be expected to opt in and return to the Cavs next season, eschewing the upcoming free agent market and the dearth of teams with minimal cap space (the Pistons are one of the few teams that could offer him a contract close to what he would seek, and obviously that won’t be happening) until the summer of 2021.

In the early goings of this stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Andre Drummond’s showing has been less than ideal. He’s played five games and is averaging12.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks in 24.2 minutes per game.

He’s also averaging a staggering 4.2 turnovers per game. This number, for a center (let alone any other position), is utterly mindblowing. He’s averaging 8.4 turnovers per 100 possessions, 6.2 turnovers per 36 minutes and his 25.3 percent of his possessions have ended in turnovers.

Andre Drummond has turned the ball over in every fashion you can imagine: Poor entry passes, bad outlet passes, holding the ball a beat too long when doubled in the post, repeated illegal screens. You name it, if a center can turn the ball over with the ball in his hands or without it, Andre Drummond has found a way to do it.

Of course, it’s not so simple to just conclude that now Andre Drummond is just bad and the NBA’s new turnover champion. More likely, in a new environment after his previous team of eight years essentially gave up on him and moved on for virtually no return, Drummond is simply trying far too hard to make an impact for his new team.

It’s something he demonstrated in Detroit in the absence of scorers and creators like Blake Griffin and Reggie Jackson. With minimal talent around him, he takes things into his own hands far too much and unfortunately for both him and the Cavs, that’s been a failing effort so far.

Unfortunately, this is quickly having a material impact on his playing time and perhaps the way his new coach J.B. Bickerstaff intends to use him.

After being one of the heaviest minute-getters for the Pistons, averaging 33.8 minutes per game, he’s playing just 24.2 minutes per game with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the three games since Bickerstaff took over after John Beilein’s stunning resignation, Drummond hasn’t even played in a fourth quarter yet.

It’s tough to argue that Drummond deserves more run than he’s been getting. He’s shooting just 49.1 percent from the floor (although he’s hit 4-of-9 3-pointers) to go along with the copious turnovers. The Cavs have a -25.9 net rating when Drummond is on the floor and a +14.8 net rating when he’s off the floor. Needless to say an on/off swing of 40.7 points per 100 possessions is catastrophic.

The trade for Drummond was bizarre in the first place, slotting him onto a roster with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. (who comprised the fourth quarter and overtime frontcourt lineup of the Cavs’ comeback against the Miami Heat on Monday night).

It’s not ideal, and combined with this ridiculous coaching turnover that befell the Cavs right after the trade, it won’t be easy for them to find the cohesion and rotational integrity they’ll need with a roster so poorly constructed.