Andre Drummond drew interest from several other clubs around the league during the offseason, but after talking things over with his agent, he decided that joining the Knicks made the most sense.
“This was the best option,” he said Tuesday. “Being born in Mount Vernon and then moving to Connecticut very young, I’ve always been a Knicks fan — from Amar’e [Stoudemire] to Patrick Ewing, the list of greats in this organization, it’s a true honor to put the jersey on.”
Bruce Brown is Drummond’s only new teammate whom he’s played with before, but he does have plenty of experience competing against the majority of this roster over the years.
The most recent time, of course, was when the Knicks sent him and the 76ers packing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year en route to their drought-snapping championship berth.
One thing Drummond remembers from that series: New York fans completely taking over Xfinity Arena.
“It was crazy,” he said with a smile. “It felt like a road game the whole series, you guys came down and took over the Philadelphia arena, it was crazy even seeing some of the fans from there wearing Knicks jerseys too — the Knicks fanbase is far-and-wide, it doesn’t matter where you are in the world, definitely the basketball Mecca.”
Now, the 33-year-old will get to experience what it’s like being on the other side of that passionate fanbase.
Drummond is expected to play a pretty significant role in his first year with the team, too, helping make up for the loss of beloved big man Mitchell Robinson to the rival Boston Celtics in free agency.
The Knicks know replacing Robinson’s production is an awfully tall task to ask of anyone, though, so they are simply looking for the veteran center to go out and play his game.
“The best part of the situation Andre is in,” captain Jalen Brunson explained. “He’s not coming in to be Mitch, he’s coming in to be himself — we have to give him the confidence to be himself — this is a new team and a new journey, we’re going to attack it every day.”
Though he’s seen his production drop off a bit as his career has progressed, Drummond was able to pull in 8.4 boards while averaging just under 20 minutes per night across 63 games with Philly last season.
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