Los Angeles Lakers: Ranking the 5 best buyout candidates

2. Andre Drummond

UPDATE: Scratch Andre Drummond off the list, as the Lakers will be signing the big man after he clears waivers on Sunday.

It’s starting to feel more and more inevitable that Andre Drummond is the Lakers’ first signing on the buyout market. There’s one better-fitting big man on the market that we’ll get to in a second, but Drummond wouldn’t be a bad addition, necessarily.

According to the latest report, the Lakers are now the frontrunners for his services.

Averaging 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game this season, there’s no question he’d provide elite rebounding and a nightly double-double for a team that could use some reinforcements on the interior. The problem is that he’s not the most fleet-footed defender, nor is he a boon on offense given the number of post-ups he requires to be successful.

Drummond is not an above-the-rim, rim-running threat out of pick-and-rolls. He’s not a modern big who can spread the floor, and he can be exploited on mismatches on the defensive end. If the idea is to continue scraping by without AD on the inside, then sure, add Drummond. But giving him playoff minutes over Gasol, Harrell and especially AD at the 5 would probably be a mistake, no matter how many boards he gobbles up in the meantime.