Why Andre Drummond Signing With The Knicks Needs To Be Talked About More
- Dominic Konareski
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Losing Mitchell Robinson was a massive loss for the New York Knicks, while being a massive gain for the Boston Celtics. Despite the loss of their 2018 draft pick to their primary rival in the Eastern Conference, the Knicks have rebounded beautifully.
Shortly after losing Mitch, the Knicks would sign Andre Drummond to a one-year veteran minimum contract to be what is expected as a primary back-up role at center behind Karl-Anthony Towns. Drummond, 32, is in the latter part of his career, though his 2025/26 stat line is nearly identical to Mitchell Robinson’s when it comes to regular season play.
Stats:
Andre Drummond vs Mitchell Robinson
Games —-- 63 vs 60
Minutes—---19.5 vs 19.6
Points —-----6.4 vs 5.7
Rebounds —8.4 vs 8.8
Assists —----1.3 vs 0.7
Steals —-----0.6 vs 0.8
Blocks—----- 0.8 vs 1.8
FG%---------- 47.2% vs 72.3%
Off. Reb.----- 3.2 vs 3.5
Turnovers —-1.0 vs 0.7
Mitchell Robinson was an extremely efficient scorer with an elite 72.6 field goal percentage and was a true hard hitting presence when it came to blocking the ball on defense. While Andre Drummond was a slightly stronger rebounder and an higher scorer, while also being a better passer who can occasionally stretch the floor. Both are veteran presences, but it seems virtually that Andre Drummond will essentially pick up where Mitch left off.
One thing that is massive overall in this signing is the factor that Andre Drummond is already New York proven. Although he may be a slightly forgotten Brooklyn Net, he still played in the New York market with Brooklyn back in 2022. Part of the mid-season trade that sent Ben Simmons to the Nets, Drummond would appear in 24 games for the Nets, starting all of them.
In those 24 starts, he would average 22.3 minutes per-game and rack a .610 FG% with 11.8 PPG. 24 games is a small sample size, but Drummond seemed comfortable playing in New York – I mean he is a New York native.
Andre Drummond was born in the Empire State in Mount Vernon, and would later attend high school in Connecticut, where he would stay to attend college with UConn. Drummond was a force to be reckoned with while a Huskie, leading him to be drafted 9th overall in 2012.
Andre has stated on multiple occasions as well that he grew up a New York Knicks fan, as this signing makes a full-circle moment as he returns home to the New York-Connecticut area to play for his childhood favorite team.
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