Hawks Favored To Land Andre Drummond But Celtics, Clippers A Possibility

The NBA trade deadline is four weeks away and one of the hottest names in the rumor mill is Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond. The key issue here is that Drummond has a player option for next season at $28.7 million but given what NBA stars go for these days, he’s probably going to opt out at the end of the season. Given that the Pistons are currently 14-25 and could lose a star for nothing, they’ve been dipping their toes in the trade market to see what they can get for him. Drummond betting odds are up on where he might land, so let’s take a look at the three destinations where he’s mostly likely to go.

ATLANTA HAWKS
ODDS: -150

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, one of the most plugged in NBA reporters, reported that the Hawks and Pistons were engaged in trade talks already. That’s why the Hawks are the favorite here. Beyond that, the fit somewhat makes sense as the Hawks need help in the frontcourt and pairing Drummond with the likes of Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and John Collins makes a lot of sense. The question is what will the Hawks offer in return? They’re not competing for much this year and won’t want to move one of their attractive, young pieces. After all, they could just wait and try to sign Drummond and give up nothing. However, if the Pistons just want a salary dump and a future pick, the Hawks might be game.

BOSTON CELTICS
ODDS: +500

The Pistons might start with the Hawks and try to finalize a deal with Atlanta first, but if they can’t figure something out, the Boston Celtics would make an intriguing option for a number of reasons. First, Boston has been relatively cautious in terms of making big trades in recent years. The Celtics were presented with chances to make big blockbuster moves but refrained from doing so, and it didn’t work out for Boston. General manager Danny Ainge suffered as a result of standing pat. Boston might be motivated to take a bigger swing for the fences this time. Drummond, who has led the NBA in rebounding in three of the last four years, would be an excellent option on the inside who can mop up the misses and not require a lot of offensive touches. Bostin is third in the Eastern Conference in terms of the standings but is 10th in the NBA in terms of rebounding.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
ODDS: +700

This is a fascinating possibility. The purpose of the Clippers getting Drummond would be very obvious: Getting a big man to body up against Anthony Davis and make him work harder for his offense. The Clippers have Montrezl Harrell, who is a true power forward but not a center. Drummond is the center who could bang away against Davis and do a better job of containing him as a defender. The Clippers would have an interest in luring Drummond to Los Angeles, but the roadblock would be what the Clippers would send to Detroit in return to make a trade worthwhile. The Clippers have cleverly reassembled their roster to compete for a championship. They’re pretty much right there. Would making a move for Drummond disrupt the current chemistry?

NEW YORK KNICKS
ODDS: +1200

This is the longshot team but they’d probably be willing to pony up a juicy extension for him right now. The idea of Drummond in New York doesn’t make a lot of sense but the Knicks rarely do that. They’re a rebuild and have lots of big men in Mitchell Robinson, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis and Julius Randle. They’ve swung and missed on a number of stars and while Drummond isn’t a franchise player, he’s just below that level. New York – as per usually – is a desperate franchise which might think it has to do something to shake up the team. Remember, they already fired a coach, David Fizdale, earlier this season, so the idea that they would do something rash in the trade market makes sense in that the Knicks being foolish is a logical outcome.

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