Cavs: No, Andre Drummond isn’t getting bought out
By Duncan Smith
The Cleveland Cavaliers conundrum
Since Allen arrived in Cleveland, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has found ways to utilize them both. Drummond has mostly carried the heaviest burden with Allen coming off the bench which does give them an overpowered center spot. In the five games since Allen actually first suited up for the Cavs, Drummond has played between 25 and 27 minutes in four of them (he only played 17 minutes their 38-point blowout at the hands of the Celtics).
Conversely, Allen played 31 minutes in his debut against the Brooklyn Nets and has played between 19 and 28 minutes in the other four games. Bickerstaff has also played the duo together for 37 minutes, but this is clearly less than ideal and not something they’ll do much of this season.
So the Cavs would like to move Drummond and fully embrace Allen as their starter of the future, but it’s going to be tough. Maybe they’ll have to settle for some unimpressive haul akin to what the Pistons got for him, or maybe they’ll just sit on Drummond and run out the clock and lose him for nothing in the offseason.
What the Cleveland Cavaliers will NOT do, however, is buy Drummond out.