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Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond has already put himself in the company of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain during the early season, and those are pretty good names to be mentioned with.
Drummond is having an incredible start to his year. He was averaging 18.5 points and 19 rebounds per game before Tuesday’s match against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he is the first player since Abdul-Jabbar to have at least 185 points and 190 rebounds through the first 10 games of a season. Drummond is also the last guy since Chamberlain to average at least 20 points and 20 rebounds through the first six games of a season.
His Pistons have been on a nice roll as a result of Drummond’s historic play, and this is probably ahead of schedule for a team that didn’t even sniff the playoffs last season. This year, they will at least have one All-Star if he keeps putting up numbers like that, and we will most likely get to see the big man in the postseason as well. Stan Van Gundy is doing a solid job with this team so far. The play of Drummond reminds me of SVG’s work with Dwight Howard during the Orlando Magic‘s run to the NBA Finals. The Pistons aren’t quite ready to make that jump yet, but they are clearly heading in the right direction.
Doc Rivers recently compared Drummond to Dennis Rodman, and that is a pretty amazing compliment for the big man. We’ll have to see if Andre can keep up this historic pace throughout the season, but it looks pretty certain that the Pistons have an All-Star on their hands. The even more amazing part is that Detroit will have $13 million in extra cap room next summer because of Drummond’s willingness to delay inking a contract extension. This will set them up well to make a pitch at some quality free agents, because who wouldn’t want to play with a big guy who can routinely record 20 points and 20 rebounds? Drummond will hopefully get more credit for his performance once the Pistons add another star player next summer, because he is certainly not getting enough right now.
Dave Daniels is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter: @AllDave_AllDay, like him on Facebook here or add him to your network on Google.
