For the first time since he was selected ninth overall in the 2012 NBA Draft, the Pistons were a better team on offense with Andre Drummond on the bench last season. It wasn’t a great sign of things to come considering the Pistons agreed to a five-year extension with Drummond in the offseason, making him one of the highest paid players in the league. Whereas most players at his position were adapting to a new NBA, he seemed hellbent on becoming a player he didn’t have the skills to be.
Drummond’s post-ups in particular were problematic. They made up 27.5 percent of his points on the season, an awfully high number for someone who ranked in the 19.5 percentile with 0.73 points per possession. It’s not like he created much offense for his teammates in those situations, either. According to NBA.com, Drummond completed a total of 48 passes out of his 557 post-ups. Only six of those passes ended in an assist, giving him an assist percentage of 1.1 percent.
That means neither Drummond nor the Pistons benefitted much from him getting the ball in the post, where he attempted 30.4 percent of his shots last season. It’s why the amount he’s changed his game this season is an encouraging step forward. With an average of 1.5 post-up possessions per game, Drummond is scoring only 9.5 percent of his points in the post. He’s still struggling to score with his back to the basket — 7.4 percentile with 0.56 points per post-up possession — but he’s already made 12 passes on 39 post-ups, two of which have ended in an assist.
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While that hasn’t changed his assist percentage much, Drummond has gone from almost always shooting when he gets the ball in the post to passing almost as frequently as he attempts a shot.
Drummond makes up for less touches in the post by spending more time around the perimeter. He’s now near the top of the league with 6.2 elbow touches per game, putting him ahead of Nikola Vucevic (4.8), LaMarcus Aldridge (5.0), Kristaps Porzingis (5.2) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (5.4) to name a few. It marks the first time in Drummond’s career that he is receiving more elbow touches per game than post-ups.
What separates Drummond from others is almost none of those elbow touches turn into points for himself. They’re a way for him to set up his teammates instead. Of his 58 assists on the season, 10 have come from elbow touches. Similar to his post-up tendencies, Drummond is passing on 68.9 percent of his elbow touches and scoring on only 23.6 percent of them.
Drummond has actually recorded more than 10 assists out of the elbow this season, but many of them aren’t recognized as direct elbow assists by NBA.com because he’s more likely to catch the ball there and take a couple of dribbles towards the weakside perimeter before handing it off to Reggie Jackson, Avery Bradley or Tobias Harris.
It’s the difference between this type of possession:
And this type of possession:
Drummond’s inability to space the floor doesn’t prevent those plays from working. It’s best to think of them as an alternative to a traditional pick-and-roll. By playing off of Drummond, the defense is at risk of the ball handler pulling-up or getting into the paint off the dribble when they turn the corner. They’re also at risk of Drummond getting deep position on the roll, whether it leads to an alley-oop or an offensive rebound. If the threat of either of those brings an additional defender into the picture, it then creates opportunities for shooters on the perimeter.
Based on those options, it should come as no surprise that Drummond has assisted Bradley (24 of his 58 assists) more than anyone else on the Pistons roster. Bradley was one of the league leaders in scoring off of handoffs last season, and he’s increased his frequency on those plays to 27.8 percent this season. He’s currently at the top of the league with 4.0 handoff points per game.
Drummond has shown the ability to make high level decisions out of the elbow as well. If the defense anticipates the handoff, for example, it opens up a backdoor cut for Jackson, Bradley or Harris.
The same goes for when Drummond’s own defender tries to take shortcuts. Stan Van Gundy told ESPN’s Zach Lowe last season he prefers to see Drummond face-up and drive rather than post-up because there aren’t many defenders who have the speed, strength and athleticism to keep up with him once he has a full head of steam. Drummond is unlikely to ever create a high percentage of his shots off the dribble, but it’s good to see him pick and choose his spots better in the half court. What’s important is he can score when his defender lets their guard down.
The combination has completely transformed how the Pistons operate this season. They’ve seen their frequency in the post fall dramatically from 8.6 percent to 3.1 percent, paving the way for more handoffs and spot-up opportunities, both of which are far more efficient shot attempts. While he doesn’t have a hand in every single one of those possessions, establishing Drummond as a threat away from the basket as a passer and screener helps him push the limits of how much he can space the floor as a complete non-shooter.
The following possession is a microcosm of that transformation. Last season’s Drummond would’ve likely settled for an awkward post-up against Karl-Anthony Towns after the initial handoff. This season’s Drummond draws Towns out to the perimeter by sprinting to the elbow, faces-up to the basket and finds Bradley cutting to the basket with a perfect pass. It’s the difference between the Pistons scoring at a rate of 0.56 points per possession and 1.42 points per possession.
One clip obviously doesn’t tell the whole story, but it goes to show how Drummond’s approach has changed and explains why the Pistons have been significantly better offensively with him on the court despite the fact that his scoring is down on a per possession basis. Whereas they’re scoring at a rate of 101.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the bench this season, they’re up to 107.7 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. Think last season’s Trail Blazers (No. 11 in offensive efficiency) compared to last season’s Nets (No. 28).
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So as long as Drummond maintains this level of production, giving him a max extension looks far less risky than it did this time last season even though he hasn’t developed the skills young centers are expected to have in today’s NBA. Van Gundy deserves a lot of credit for building an offense better suited to his strengths, but the bulk of the credit should go to Drummond for finally accepting who he is.