After failed contract extension negotiations with the Cavaliers this offseason, Andre Drummond opted into the final year of his deal, worth roughly $28.7 million.
Now set to hit the open market in 2020-21, he’ll look to put forth one of his best NBA seasons.
As it gets closer to the start of the regular season, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com says Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has extremely high expectation for Drummond, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
“We have high expectations of Andre on the defensive end of the floor,” Bickerstaff said. “We believe that he can be a guy that shuts down the entire paint. We believe that he should be a guy that’s mentioned in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. And we’ve had that conversation with him.
If we’re talking about winning basketball, he’s a difference-maker unlike very many guys in this league on the defensive end of the floor. We need him to impress his will on that end of the floor, and the offense will take care of itself.”
Drummond is known for stuffing the stat sheet on the offensive end, where he averaged 17.7 points and 15.2 rebounds per game last season. If he can continue to improve on the defensive end of the floor this season in Cleveland, there is no reason that Drummond couldn’t be in the conversation of NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
