Ever since Andre Drummond signed with the New York Knicks back in July, it's been widely publicized how similar his style of play is to former center Mitchell Robinson's. From their otherworldly rebounding abilities to their innate willingness to lean into the nitty-gritty aspects of the game, both bigs are certainly easy to compare to one another.
However, during a recent sit-down with the media, Drummond unknowingly highlighted an area where he and Mitch are worlds apart.
While talking about his recently established perimeter shooting game, the veteran was asked if he expects his increased volume and level of production to continue now that he's with the Knicks.
In response, Drummond noted that while he's not necessarily "hunting" to hoist the rock from beyond the arc, ultimately he stressed that "If the shot is there I'll take it."
He went on to suggest that this is the same mindset he adopted for himself last season in Philadelphia, and, clearly, it worked wonders for him, what with the fact that he set career marks in both takes (90) and makes (32), and cashed in at his second-best clip for a season with an average rate of 35.6 per night.
Considering his predecessor Robinson never so much as attempted a single shot from beyond the arc throughout his eight-year tenure with the Knicks, it's clear that, at the very least, New York managed to improve their long-range shooting potential by replacing him with Drummond.
Andre Drummond brings more reliable shooting to Knicks
Though three-point shooting potential is certainly important, especially in this modern era heavily influenced by floor spacing, arguably the most important improvement Drummond brings over Robinson as the new backup center to Karl-Anthony Towns is his ability to shoot somewhat reliably from the foul line.
Yes, on the surface, one may believe New York arguably took a step backward with Drummond's arrival, as his career 48.9 percent clip is even worse than Mitch's 50.8.
However, as he said when it came to his take on shooting three-pointers, clearly, foul shooting is something he's actively been working on during this back half of his career.
Since 2018, Drummond has bumped his free throw numbers up to 58.2 percent, roughly 10 percentage points better than Robinson's throughout this same eight-year span.
Last season, he even managed to finish with the best free throw percentage of his career at 63.1 percent. Robinson, meanwhile, registered his worst at a horrifyingly low 40.8 percent clip.
So while Drummond may not exactly be an automatic shooter, at the very least it's a signficant upgrade over what the Knicks had with Robinson.
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