Andre Drummond poised for a breakout season
Once former Miami Heat and Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy was hired as head head coach and president of the Detroit Pistons, he knew he’d have his work cut out for him. He wanted to find a shooting guard, a reserve big man and a backup point guard and has done all of that – the Pistons have signed Los Angeles Lakers’ swingman Jodie Meeks, Washington Wizards’ guard Cartier Martin, Sacramento Kings’ big man Aaron Gray, Oklahoma City Thunder wing Caron Butler and Chicago Bulls’ point guard D.J. Augustin.
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However, most of the chatter has surrounded restricted free agent big man Greg Monroe and forward Josh Smith, who may be being shopped.
Many believe the talk around the Pistons should be about promising young center Andre Drummond. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders believes Drummond is poised for a breakout season.
"I think Andre Drummond is poised for a huge season. He has obviously shown glimpses of brilliance during his first two years in the NBA, but I think this is the season where he finally breaks out and consistently dominates. I’m excited to see how Stan Van Gundy utilizes him and I’m expecting big things from the big man. He finished last year playing really well (averaging 18.4 points, 17.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks and 1.4 steals in the final month of the season) and I think he’ll pick up right where he left off. He’s still just 20 years old and has a ton of room to grow, but I think we start to see him go into beast mode in 2014-15."
Drummond averaged 13.5 points, 13.2 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and 1.2 steals per game shooting 62.3% from the field and 41.8% from the free throw line last season. He was originally selected with the ninth-overall pick by the Pistons in the 2012 NBA Draft.