It took just one half of regular-season basketball for Andre Drummond to win over Madison Square Garden. It took another half of basketball for the New York Knicks to be reminded that he can’t play at that level for too many minutes.
Head coach Mike Brown admitted as much after the team’s opening-night loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, telling the media that he “probably played Drummond longer than” he should have. No kidding. Drummond ended up logging 24-plus minutes—over 17 of which came in the first half.
Not that Brown had much of a choice. Karl-Anthony Towns barely tallied six minutes through the first two frames because he picked up three early fouls. New York’s only alternatives were James Wiseman, or no bigs at all.
Given how much Drummond’s performance deteriorated in the second half, the Knicks probably should have explored one of those pivots.
Andre Drummond isn’t in New York to play this many minutes
To his credit, Drummond stepped up in a pinch. During his time on the court in the first half, he racked up 10 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and two blocks. His plus-seven led the team, he put up a fight while guarding Joel Embiid, and he alone rebounded 26.1 percent of the Knicks’ misses.
Then, the second half started. And Drummond looked totally cooked.
He had more fouls (two) than made shots (one), and wasn’t moving with the same gusto. His attempts around the basket were clumsier; nowhere near as crafty. Embiid gobbled up one of his shots for dinner. Drummond’s offensive rebounding rate plunged to 11 percent, and worst of all, the Knicks lost his court time by 13 points.
Nothing about this is Drummond’s fault. He isn’t in New York to play this much. He has averaged under 20 minutes per game in every season since 2021-22. Asking him to give you 25, at the age of 33, is nonsensical. The Knicks seldom let Mitchell Robinson hit that benchmark. He played more than 24 minutes 11 times last year.
The Knicks have to be more creative with the rotation
Writing Drummond’s opening-night usage off as a blip doesn’t fly. Towns won’t spend every game in foul trouble, but he’s not a stranger to it overall.
This necessitates exploring alternatives. It may also require the Knicks to trade for another big man. But that’s more of a midseason proposition.
Until then, if Brown doesn’t want to push the James Wiseman button, he has two options: He can trust KAT to play through early foul trouble to limit Drummond’s workload, or he can test run units without a center.
Neither option is particularly palatable. For all Towns did during the championship run, he isn’t the most disciplined defender. And while OG Anunoby-at-the-5 arrangements are inherently appealing, the Knicks won’t want to run their defensive anchor into the ground.
Still, the method of overworking Drummond isn’t much better. We now see what happens when they do. It’s not pretty.
In all likelihood, Brown will have to make matchup-based calls. The Knicks, for instance, could have used Anunoby at the 5 when the Sixers slid LeBron up to that spot. There will be nights where New York has to suck it up, and use Wiseman. Or ask KAT to play through foul trouble without imploding.
What the Knicks do with their center rotation will vary. But we already know what they can’t do: expect Andre Drummond to play more minutes than they got from Mitchell Robinson.
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