Andre Drummond was never going to fully replace Mitchell Robinson. Few can. The New York Knicks’ hope was that he’d be a reasonable facsimile of Robinson, or at least someone they could turn to as the primary Karl-Anthony Towns backup.
With the exception of one mesmerizing first half on opening night, Drummond isn’t coming close to meeting this standard.
And believe it or not, it’s most evident at the offensive end.
Andre Drummond isn’t a clean fit for the Knicks’ offense
Despite being a large human who inhales rebounds, Drummond operates in stark contrast to Mitchell Robinson. He prefers to work as more than just the screen-and-roll or clean-up guy. Even at his lowest volume, he is going to put up more shots, seek out more post-ups, and burn through more elbow touches.
Aspects of Drummond’s deviation from the Robinson mold were welcomed. Bigs inclined to make more decisions with the ball can be a value add, and he also dabbled in spacing to the corners during his time with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Different, as it turns out, isn’t always better. Or translatable. The Knicks have stamped out the three-point volume Drummond delivered in Philly, and his varying usage has led to inefficient offense.
Drummond is shooting just 53.3 percent in the restricted area (8-of-15). Unfortunately for the Knicks, this is not an outlier. Drummond has shot below 60 percent at the basket in each of the past three seasons, and ranked higher than the 37th percentile as a finisher around the hoop only once since 2014-15.
For context, Robinson has shot below 66 percent at the rim just once, and he was at 72 percent last season. Granted, he’s getting easier looks. Robinson rated in the 98th percentile of rim shot quality last year, and has tumbled outside the 90th percentile just one time, according to BBall Index. Drummond, by comparison, has ranked in the 55th percentile or lower of rim shot quality each of the past seasons.
This is the entire point. Robinson’s role was more limited, and dependent on others. Drummond is going to make more moves, dribble more often, and take extra shots on the move. Over 60 percent of his made field goals so far have gone unassisted. That’s exorbitantly high even for him. But last year, when Robinson’s unassisted-field-goal rate (42.3 percent) was actually higher than Drummond’s (39.6 percent), the latter wasn’t being used as the screen-and-diver or clean-up crew nearly as often.
The Knicks can’t count on this changing
Time is still on the Knicks’ side, but the Drummond fit isn’t guaranteed to get cleaner. The offense is already nosediving by 16.5 points per 100 possessions when he plays, and he's not getting the same benefit of the doubt given to Mikal Bridges, or OG Anunoby.
Head coach Mike Brown already benched AD in favor of James Wiseman during New York’s loss to the Orlando Magic. While that isn’t necessarily an indictment of Drummond, it does nod to what the Knicks want in their backup big.
A quasi-offensive hub isn’t it. That is why you have Karl-Anthony Towns. And even if the Knicks wanted to replicate that when he sits, Drummond isn’t the guy to do it. He has seldom been a standout finisher at the basket, and has never been an efficient offensive creator.
So as of now, Drummond is neither fit to mimic Robinson’s usage nor be effective in his most comfortable spots. Where does that leave the Knicks? Desperately missing Mitch, and in dire need of the primary backup center they were wrong to think Drummond could be.
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