November 29: Drummond underwent an MRI on Saturday morning which revealed no structural damage, the Sixers announced (Twitter link via Kyle Neubeck of PHLY Sports). The veteran big man is feeling better today, per the team, and an official update will come at 4:00 pm CT.
Scotto reports (via Twitter) that Drummond is considered day-to-day.
November 28: Sixers center Andre Drummond sustained a right knee sprain in the first half of Friday’s game at Brooklyn and will not return, the team announced (Twitter link via Tony Jones of The Athletic).
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter video link), the initial diagnosis on Drummond is a hyperextended knee, though he will almost certainly undergo additional testing to confirm that diagnosis and determine the severity of the injury.
Drummond appeared to be knocked off balance in the air by teammate Kyle Lowry as he was attempting to corral a defensive rebound. The 32-year-old was unable to put weight on his right leg, according to Jones (Twitter link), and had to be helped off the court, ultimately leaving in a wheelchair.
Second-year big man Adem Bona, who returned to action on Friday after missing the past five games with a right ankle sprain, started the second half with Drummond out, Jones adds (via Twitter).
It’s an unfortunate development for both Drummond and the 76ers, who also had Paul George back on Friday following a one-game absence due to his own right ankle sprain.
A two-time All-Star and four-time rebounding champion in the early portion of his career, Drummond opened the season playing a modest role for Philadelphia but had started each of the past eight games heading into Friday with Joel Embiid continuing to miss time with a sore right knee. Drummond averaged a double-double (10.9 points and 13.8 rebounds) over that stretch while also incorporating a three-point shot into his game — entering Friday, he was 9-of-22 (40.9%) from deep on the season.
Drummond, who is earning $5MM in the final year of his contract, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Bona, Dominick Barlow, Jabari Walker and Johni Broome are all candidates for more playing time with Drummond out.
Does anybody know how it would work if the Sixers wanted to sign a C from another team’s G League affiliate? Would the Sixers have to work out a trade or supply compensation the same as if the Phillies were acquiring a minor league player from another club or are G Leaguers allowed to just sign with another NBA org? I honestly don’t know.
A G Leaguer who has a standard or two-way contract with another NBA team and is on assignment in the G League can’t sign with a different team and would have to be acquired via trade. But most other G League players are NBA free agents and could be freely signed at any time.
Thank you 🙏 for clarifying.
Tmandolfan, did you have a particular G League center in mind?
Colin Castleton, Amari Williams and maybe Oscar Tshiebwe are three guys putting up decent numbers so far. I’m pretty sure Amari Williams is on a 2 way deal but the other two have been around for a few years. But since Drummond’s knee injury seems to be day to day it’s probably a moot point.
Amari is on a two way with the Celtics plus he might be a PF, Oscar’s numbers look too good to ignore but I see him as a starting 6’8 PF and Collin is a decent third string C. You can trade two way players but it doesn’t happen that often
The dude’s knocking down threes 43.5%
I had to look it up and wow Drummond is all of a sudden making 3’s, good catch
Drummond would have close to 14,000 rebounds if he could have stayed healthy in his career.
Free Drummond. With plenty of teams lacking a actual C, here is a good option