Philadelphia 76ers: Grading their signings in NBA free agency

Philadelphia 76ers NBA free agency signing No. 2: Andre Drummond

With Dwight Howard heading back to the Los Angeles Lakers after his single season in Philadelphia, the franchise was looking for another backup big man. Who better to take than the Lakers starting big from the end of last season, Andre Drummond.

The big man started his career with the Detroit Pistons where he was a cornerstone of the franchise from an early stage in his career. Unfortunately, when Blake Griffin turned out to not be able to play to the level he was expected to due to injury, Drummond became a liability. This is despite him being one of the best big men of his generation on the boards.

The benefit of Drummond coming into the squad over Howard is that Drummond is much better defensively as he is eight years younger. He will also have the ability to score at a higher clip than Howard. During the Hawks series, Howard was part of too many runs where the 76ers could not stop the Hawks’ second unit.

The thing is that Drummond is still an effective player in the league. The problem was that he was signed to a massive deal which meant that the expectations were high. Now that he is on a minimum deal, if he can come close to averaging a double-double again this is a genius signing.

Grade: A