Andre Drummond

In Andre Drummond's eyes, there has never been a better rebounder in NBA history than, well, Andre Drummond.

"I think I'm already there," the Chicago Bulls big man said, per Mike Anthony of CT Insider. "I'm on my way. By the time I retire, I'll go down as the best rebounder ever—if not already."

To his credit, Drummond is an excellent rebounder.

He led the league in rebounds per game in 2015-16 and then again three seasons in a row from 2017-18 through 2019-20. He has averaged 13.3 boards per game throughout his career during stops on the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.

Yet Drummond's 9.3 rebounds per game in 2021-22 was his lowest mark since he was a rookie in 2012-13. He also played just 19.7 minutes per game last season for the 76ers and Nets and figures to come off the bench for the Bulls during the upcoming campaign.

That might make it hard to climb the all-time leaderboards where he is 46th in total rebounds (9,519) and 10th in rebounds per game, but the 29-year-old is not lacking confidence.

The Chicago Bulls reportedly have interest in a pair of veteran additions this offseason and are likely to keep one of their talented young players.

According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the Bulls are expected to have interest in center Andre Drummond in free agency, as well as forward Danilo Gallinari if the San Antonio Spurs waive him. San Antonio acquired Gallinari from the Atlanta Hawks yesterday in the trade that sent Dejounte Murray to Atlanta.

Meanwhile, guard Coby White is reportedly "more likely to return than not" after the Bulls fielded trade calls leading up to the 2022 NBA draft but nothing materialized.

Chicago is coming off an up-and-down season that saw it spend time at the top of the Eastern Conference before dropping down to the No. 6 seed with a 46-36 record.

The Milwaukee Bucks eliminated the Bulls in the first round of the postseason, but it was a successful campaign as they ended a four-season playoff drought.

Chicago enters the offseason with question marks, though, most notably whether All-Star guard Zach LaVine will return in free agency.

Regardless of LaVine's status, Gallinari and Drummond are depth pieces that could play sizable roles in the Windy City.

Johnson noted the Spurs are expected to waive Gallinari. While he'll likely find a robust market for his services in free agency, the Bulls can offer him the opportunity to play under head coach Billy Donovan, who coached him on the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019-20.

Johnson reported it would likely take a two-year deal worth $7 million or $8 million per season to land Gallinari.

The 33-year-old native of Italy is set to enter his 15th NBA season after stints with the New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Thunder and Hawks.

In 728 career games, he boasts averages of 15.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.0 three-pointers made while shooting 38.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Gallinari shot better than 40 percent from long range in three consecutive seasons before dropping in line with his career average last year at 38.1 percent. He averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.7 trifectas in 66 games for the Hawks last season.

Drummond, 28, was a two-time All-Star and four-time rebounding champion in seven-and-a-half seasons with the Detroit Pistons, but he has taken on more of a reserve role in recent years with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets.

After averaging better than 13 points and 12 rebounds per game in eight straight seasons, the 6'10" big man put up 7.9 points and 9.3 boards per contest last season in 73 games split between the Sixers and Nets.

Drummond would provide quality minutes behind starting center Nikola Vucevic, and Johnson noted he could sign for the veteran minimum.

Chicago selected White with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. While he hasn't established himself as a regular starter, he has been a valuable offensive contributor.

White started only 17 of the 61 games he appeared in last season and averaged a career-low 12.7 points and 3.0 rebounds, but he pitched in 2.9 assists and 2.2 three-pointers while shooting a career-best 43.3 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range.

Since LaVine and DeMar DeRozan took precedence as scorers, White was often forgotten, but he played a significant role, especially after Lonzo Ball underwent knee surgery in January and sat out the rest of the season.

Johnson noted that while the Bulls aren't closed off to the idea of trading the 22-year-old guard, they are happy to keep him, especially as insurance for Ball if he is unable to stay healthy.

Brooklyn Nets center Andre Drummond, who briefly played for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2020-21 season, said on Jefe Island that people need to be "built differently to play for that organization."

Tyler Greenawalt of Yahoo Sports relayed the quotes from Drummond, who also noted that he enjoyed his time in Los Angeles:

“Yeah the Lakers is exactly what you think it is, man. You gotta be built differently to play for that organization. You gotta be mentally strong not even just on the court, but off the court too because there's so much expectations to being a Laker and putting that purple and gold on. Because if you don't meet that expectation they will let you know you're not worthy enough to put on that jersey. So you got to play to the best of your ability and play hard each and every night regardless of win, lose or draw. You gotta just play hard. That's what they respect.

I had a lot of fun out there. I came off a weird situation in Cleveland where they sat me out for four months. I kind of came back, just trying to figure out how to fit in with a team that I haven't played before. It was kind of a weird situation getting back into the groove of basketball. I wish I had a chance to really connect with those guys and really do something. But everything happens for a reason. The Lakers situation was fun, though, I enjoyed being there.

Drummond signed with the Lakers as a free agent on March 28, 2021. At the time, the Lakers had lost four of their last five games and were playing without superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis because of injuries.

Los Angeles was sitting in a respectable fourth place in the Western Conference as it looked to mount a title defense, but prospects looked bleak for the Lakers without their top two stars. In other words, Drummond was joining the Lakers as they were scuffling through a rough patch.

He was brought in as a reinforcement for a short-handed frontcourt and ultimately averaged 11.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game in 21 starts.

The Lakers' season ended in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs after the team fell to the Phoenix Suns in six games.

After the season, Drummond signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia 76ers, who traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in February as part of the James Harden-Ben Simmons deal. Drummond is set to become a free agent.

The 28-year-old has averaged 13.8 points and 13.3 rebounds in 10 NBA seasons. He's a four-time rebounding champion and two-time All-Star.

The Brooklyn Nets are locked in to one of the four play-in spots, but their final status won't be determined until the end of the regular season on Sunday. 

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Nets center Andre Drummond said the Nets are in "must-win" mode this weekend. 

"I think we know what's ahead of us and we know what's going to happen if we do win these two games," he explained. "I think our sense of urgency is a little bit higher than what it was before, and I think we're prepared to take that next step."

The Nets (42-38) are currently the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they could move up one spot or fall down to the No. 10 seed depending on how things go this weekend. 

Brooklyn and the Atlanta Hawks have the same record. The Nets have the head-to-head tiebreaker, so they would get the higher seed if they finish with matching records. 

The Charlotte Hornets (41-39) could move up to the eighth spot if they finish tied with either the Nets or Hawks. If all three teams finish with the same record, Brooklyn gets the No. 8 seed based on head-to-head winning percentage between the trio of clubs. 

The Nets have already caught a break thanks to the Toronto Raptors' recent hot streak with 13 wins in their past 16 games to clinch a playoff berth. 

If the Raptors had been relegated to the play-in tournament, the Nets would have had to finish with a better record than them to avoid traveling to Toronto for a must-win game. Kyrie Irving wouldn't be eligible to play because of Canada's travel restrictions for unvaccinated individuals. 

Friday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers (43-37) has huge implications for both teams. A win by Cleveland would give it home-court advantage in the play-in tournament against whomever ends up being the No. 8 seed. 

A victory by the Nets will move them into the seventh seed and give them the tiebreaker advantage over Cleveland. They will host the Indiana Pacers on Sunday in the regular-season finale. 

The Nets are just 3-3 in their past six games since Irving made his home debut on March 27 against the Hornets. Their three wins during that span are against teams with a combined .325 winning percentage this season (Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks).     

Brooklyn Nets guard Seth Curry disputed ex-Philadelphia 76ers teammate Danny Green's notion that he and center Andre Drummond weren't on good terms with point guard Ben Simmons when all three played in Philly.

Per Curry to ESPN's Nick Friedell:

The relationship was fine. He wasn't around. So I don't know what [Green] meant by that. 'Wasn't cordial,' I don't know what that means but the relationship was fine. He just wasn't around so we didn't see him a lot or we didn't talk a lot. But as far as now, he's on my [team]. I went to battle with him last year, we did a lot of good stuff and I'm going to go to war with who I'm going to go to war with and who's on my team, so I'm looking forward to getting back out there with him and doing good stuff.

Curry, Drummond and Simmons were all traded from the 76ers to the Nets in a blockbuster deal that brought James Harden to Philadelphia. The deal centered around Harden and Simmons, who has sat all season after making a trade request in August. He returned to the team briefly in October but left and told team brass that he was not mentally ready to play.

Curry and Drummond are solid players in their own right but were accessories to the Simmons-Harden deal to complete the transaction. Curry doesn't have any hard feelings about being moved or ill will toward Simmons, though, per Friedell:

And the team's going to do the same thing as far as making trades or whatever so I understand it, I've been around it, I don't take anything personal. When we're on the court, we're teammates. Everything's fine. And we depend on each other to do good things. There's been nothing negative he's done to me personally so I'm fine.

Dave Early of Liberty Ballers relayed the comments Green, who is still with Philadelphia, made on his podcast Inside the Green Room:

Interesting dynamic of how things went down. Interesting dynamic of who went with him. I don’t know. I haven’t got a chance to talk to those guys yet, but I know they weren’t on the most cordial terms when he was in Philly with [Seth Curry and Andre Drummond]. So I wonder how that relationship is now.

At any rate, the Nets and 76ers have made some significant shakeups as both teams take their new rosters into the back half of the season with eyes set on deep playoff runs.

Perhaps Brooklyn and Philadelphia meet up in the postseason, but for now, the Nets and 76ers play once more this regular season with Philadelphia hosting Brooklyn on March 10 in Wells Fargo Center.

Trading a player of James Harden's caliber was "not easy" for Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks.

Brooklyn sent Harden and Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday in the trade that netted Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, an unprotected 2022 first-round pick and a protected 2027 first-round pick.

Marks opened up about the process Friday, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN:

Make no bones about it: We went all in on getting James Harden and inviting him to the group. And these decisions to move on from a player like that, of that caliber, are never easy ones. I just want to be clear that this is not something that you think, great, let's just make a split decision and move on from that. I give James a lot of credit for having open dialogue, open discussions with me and with the group, [Nets coach Steve Nash] and [owner] Joe Tsai and everybody over the last 24, 48 hours.

Again, I said they're not easy, but I think that's something we pride ourselves on is being open and honest. James was honest with us and we were honest with him. I think it's a move that enables him to have a fresh start, enables this team to have a fresh start, without trying to push things to make things work.

To say the Big Three of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving didn't work out would be quite the understatement.

The trio appeared on the court together for a grand total of 16 games during last season and this one thanks to a combination of injuries and Irving's lack of availability for home games because he remains unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Simmons hasn't played a single game this season, so the Nets may have to wait some time until their main return piece in the deal can take the floor as well. Throw in Durant's injury and Irving's absence, and the Nets may be looking at a play-in tournament spot at best come playoff time.

After all, they've lost 10 consecutive games and have fallen to the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

They are 6.5 games behind the top-seeded Miami Heat and just 3.5 games ahead of the 11th-seeded Washington Wizards. The Nos. 7-10 seeds will qualify for the play-in tournament, which means the Nets could be quite the unkind matchup for the first or second seed in the first round.

The combination of Durant, Irving, Simmons, Curry, Patty Mills, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin is good enough to win the title, but so was the group with Harden.

Unfortunately for the Nets, it never came together with Harden even if it was "not easy" to trade him.           

A seismic trade went down Thursday as the Brooklyn Nets acquired Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond, Seth Curry and a pair of first-round picks from the Philadelphia 76ers for James Harden, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

This represents a fresh start for Simmons, who has sat all year after making a trade request this summer.

In regards to Simmons' next chapter, Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported on next steps in Brooklyn as well as conversations between the point guard and Nets star Kevin Durant.

"Brooklyn will take its time getting Ben Simmons acclimated, but the star guard welcomes a change of scenery and has already had conversations with Kevin Durant and they’re all on the same page," Haynes wrote.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne also provided more insight on Simmons, who had informed the team that he was not mentally ready to play after a brief return to the team last October.

The 29-25 Nets are in a tailspin after losing nine straight games. They've been shorthanded all season, whether it be because of injury or the unvaccinated Kyrie Irving's ineligibility to play in home games under New York City's COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

Adding Simmons to the Nets could be a good long-term move, especially if Harden, who will be a free agent in 2023, opted to head elsewhere.

He had a player option for the 2022-23 season that he could have declined to become a free agent. Instead, he has opted into that year after the 76ers trade.

Brooklyn at least gets three players and two picks out of the deal instead of potentially losing Harden for nothing in a year-plus.

With Simmons locked into his contract through 2025, he now figures to be a long-term fixture in Brooklyn. The same is already the case for Durant, who signed a contract extension that will keep him in town through 2026.

Therefore, it figures that the two would work to get on the same page.

It remains to be seen when Simmons will join the team, as he hasn't played in an NBA game since June 20, but he'll be tasked with helping turn a team around that has now fallen to eighth in the Eastern Conference.

The return of Durant, who is currently sidelined with a sprained MCL, should obviously help. The Nets are 5-13 with him and 24-12 otherwise. Adding an excellent shooter in Seth Curry and a much-needed big man in Andre Drummond gives the team some much-needed depth too.

We'll see how it shakes out, but for now, circle March 10 on your calendars, as that marks the only time the Nets will play the 76ers for the remainder of the regular season. That game will go down at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center.

The Philadelphia 76ers completed a trade to acquire superstar guard James Harden and Paul Millsap from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported details of the deal ahead of Thursday's 2022 NBA trade deadline. As part of the trade, Harden is opting into his $47.3 million player option for next season, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic. 

Harden arrived at the Nets last January as part of a blockbuster trade from the Houston Rockets. He'd spent eight-plus years with the Rockets after starting his NBA career with three seasons as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who selected him with the third overall pick in the 2009 draft.

The 32-year-old Los Angeles native made a seamless transition to the Nets, averaging 24.6 points, 10.9 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 2.7 threes while shooting 47.1 percent from the field in 36 games during the 2020-21 season.

He's added 22.5 points, 10.2 dimes and 8.0 boards per game in 44 appearances so far in the current campaign.

Brooklyn dealt with a steady stream of injury issues during the second half last year, including an extended absence from Harden because of a hamstring injury, which prevented the star-studded roster from reaching peak form ahead of the postseason.

The Nets advanced past the Boston Celtics in the opening round of the playoffs but were eliminated by the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

They were restricted to mostly depth upgrades in the offseason, including the addition of longtime San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, but keeping the trio of Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in place was expected to ensure they were among the NBA's top title contenders. Irving's absence to open the season because of New York City's COVID-19 vaccine mandate complicated matters, though.

Meanwhile, Durant signed a four-year, $194.2 million extension with Brooklyn in early August that starts next year and runs through the 2025-26 season.

Harden, who holds a player option in his contract for next season, didn't sign an extension with the Nets this past fall and is now on the move once again as he joins the Sixers. He'll reunite with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, who previously built a roster around the standout guard with the Rockets.

It also brings an end to the Simmons saga for Philadelphia. The three-time All-Star has yet to play during the 2021-22 season while focusing on his mental health and awaiting a potential trade after his relationship with the team became frayed.

Harden will now try to chase down a title alongside Joel Embiid in Philly, while Brooklyn goes through another transition period as Simmons, Curry and Drummond join Durant and Irving.

Injuries and health and safety protocols have forced the postponement of Sunday's game between the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans. 

The NBA confirmed the decision to call off the game after a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium that the game was "in jeopardy" after the Sixers placed Andre Drummond and Shake Milton into the NBA's health and safety protocols. 

Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, there is "optimism" that Philadelphia will be able to play Monday's game against the Boston Celtics. 

Charania noted three other 76ers were already unavailable for this game, while Joel Embiid, Danny Green and Tyrese Maxey were all questionable to play because of injuries. 

The Sixers previously placed Georges Niang into the protocols Wednesday. Furkan Korkmaz had already been ruled out against the Pelicans, his third straight game missed with a non-COVID-19 illness. 

Embiid is listed as questionable after rolling his ankle in the second half of Wednesday's loss to the Miami Heat. He did play 33 minutes the following night against the Brooklyn Nets. 

Maxey suffered a quad contusion against the Heat. Sixers head coach Doc Rivers held him out of Thursday's loss to the Nets. 

Seth Curry and Tobias Harry are Philadelphia's only starters not dealing with some type of injury or illness at the moment. Five reserves, including Matisse Thybulle and Charles Bassey, are still available. 

The NBA requires a minimum of eight players for teams to play. The Brooklyn Nets were in a similar predicament before their Dec. 14 game against the Toronto Raptors after seven players entered health and safety protocols before tipoff. 

Kevin Durant, who was questionable prior to the game, was upgraded to give the Nets eight players in uniform. 

Sunday night against the Pelicans is the first game of a back-to-back for the Sixers. After Monday, they don't play again until Dec. 23 against the Atlanta Hawks.