In the wake of Andre Drummond agreeing to become Karl-Anthony Towns' new understudy with the New York Knicks, the former All-Star has made it known that he feels he's "a similar talent" to his direct predecessor, Mitchell Robinson.
From the veteran's four NBA rebound leader labels to their respective per-game averages from just a season ago, the similarities between these two bigs are certainly evident.
However, not all commonalities should be celebrated, as their shared struggles at the charity stripe are certainly cause for concern.
Though Drummond may be viewed as a superior scoring weapon compared to Robinson thanks to his ability to stretch the floor (shot 35.6 percent from deep last year), sadly, it seems this solid shooting stroke hasn't led him to success from the foul line, as he sports a putrid 48.9 free throw success rate for his career.
To put this into perspective, said mark is actually worse than Mitch's career 50.8 percent clip.
Now, fortunately, the tides seem to be turning slightly for Drummond in this department, as he's raised his percentage to 59.0 percent over the last four seasons. Perhaps this is due to the teachings of trainer Idan Ravin from a few years back.
Nevertheless, from a totality standpoint, it's by not means ideal to see that the Knicks have not only lost a younger, superior rim-protector and league-leading board gobbler, but also have somehow managed to add even worse free throw shooting to their back up center position.
Knicks shouldn't be counted out of center shopping just yet
Though the addition of Drummond certainly helps address the club's center depth, this does not mean New York is done adding to their collection.
As witnessed last season by way of the Jose Alvarado deal, the Knicks are not averse to making in-season moves to address areas of weakness on their roster.
Frankly, taking the wait-and-see approach could prove to be highly strategic in the long run, as there are several teams across the association with a surplus of big men and may need to wait until meaningful action kicks back up to determine which players they can afford to part ways with.
Whether it's Charlotte's Moussa Diabate or long-coveted Pelicans pivot Yves Missi, there are plenty of promising targets Leon Rose and company could be keeping tabs on as they make their way toward the regular season.
So while the Knicks may have already added a potential stopgap in Drummond to fill out their backup center spot, don't expect his arrival in the Big Apple to be the end of their search for a long-term Robinson replacement.
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