Andre Drummond reunites with Philadelphia 76ers on safe two-year/$10+ million contract

The Philadelphia 76ers’ dire need for a consistent backup center has been met as veteran big man and former Sixer Andre Drummond has left the Chicago Bulls and agreed to return to Philadelphia on a two-year/$10+ million contract – including a player option.

Salary/Roster Implications of signing Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond is the first player that the 76ers have brought in during this free agency period and it’s yet to be determined how Philadelphia acquired him, whether it’s with raw cap space or the room mid-level exception (approximately $8 million) – a tool that teams under the salary cap are given.

It’s most likely that the 76ers used that exception as they’re reportedly trying to clear cap space to offer Paul George a max contract.

The Andre Drummond contract is almost certainly coming from Sixers' room MLE, taking up the majority of it. Assuming they sign Paul George, their best chance of bringing back Kelly Oubre Jr. would be getting off Paul Reed's salary (which already seems in play given Drummond deal)

— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) June 30, 2024

As a result of the Andre Drummond signing, there is now a clear elephant in the room, which is Paul Reed. With Drummond returning to Philadelphia, the 76ers now have four centers on the roster being Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond, Paul Reed, and rookie Adem Bona.

With Reed’s upcoming $7.7 million salary for the 2024-2025 season not guaranteed, Philadelphia could simply cut him to shave off more salary and declutter their loaded center position.

What Andre Drummond brings to the 76ers

Outside of Indiana’s Jalen Smith, Andre Drummond is the best reserve center the 76ers could get in this free agency class. Drummond will supply some much-needed rebounding in non-Joel Embiid minutes, which is something Philadelphia greatly struggled with in their first round playoff series against the New York Knicks as Paul Reed’s lack of size allowed New York to dominate the glass.

Andre Drummond’s elite rebounding on both ends of the ball will remedy whatever rebounding issues Philadelphia had last season should they play a gritty team like the Knicks again in the postseason next year.

Drummond will also thrive in pick-and-rolls as a consistent lob threat, especially with Tyrese Maxey. While he doesn’t offer much defensive versatility, Drummond’s a solid rim protector by nature and an adequate help defender on strong-side penetration.

Andre Drummond’s traditional center style of play will be a breath of fresh air for the 76ers, who’ve lacked size and consistency in their front-court depth since they shipped off Drummond as a part of a package deal to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for James Harden at the 2022 trade deadline.

Andre Drummond's '22 stats w/PHI

• 6.1 PPG (4.9 FGA)
• 8.8 RPG (2.8 OREB)
• 2.0 APG (1.6 TOV)
• 53.8 FG% / 0.0 3P% / 51.2 FT%

Drummond played 49 games for the Sixers and started in 12 of them pic.twitter.com/zqd6gPvDsH

— Jacob Moreno (@jmoreno76ers) June 17, 2024

Andre Drummond contributed per-game averages of 8.4 points and 9.0 rebounds on 57.6% true-shooting (0.4% below NBA average), coming off the bench for the Chicago Bulls this past season. If the 76ers get that type of production from Drummond, they’ll find themselves in a great spot.

Mandatory Credit: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Eric Espada/NBAE via Getty Images)