Andre Drummond is back with the Philadelphia 76ers after spending the last three seasons with the Brooklyn Nets and the Chicago Bulls. He will return as the primary backup behind Joel Embiid, and he relishes his new opportunity.
The four-time NBA rebounding leader recently appeared at the Thomas H. Dudley Family School in Camden, New Jersey, for a school event, and he spoke to ClutchPoints’ Sam DiGiovanni on his outlook for the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
“When I wake up in the morning,” Drummond said. “I just have this energy, like, ‘We have something really special here and we can’t let it go to waste.’”
“I’m playing against the best center in the league every single day, so not only is he getting the best work out of me, vice versa — I’m getting the best work out of him because he’s challenging me, as well. And for me, he knows I’m not gonna ever back down from him,” he added.
Playing backup is no longer new to Andre Drummond, as he did it when he was behind Nikola Vucevic in the Chicago Bulls’ pecking order. In the last two seasons, the 30-year-old averaged 7.3 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 57.4 percent from the field in 15.1 minutes per night.
Why Andre Drummond believes the Philadelphia 76ers have a chance to “do something special” next season
The Philadelphia 76ers were one of the most proactive teams this summer, as they brought in some serious talent with the re-signings of Tyrese Maxey, Kelly Oubre Jr., KJ Martin, and Kyle Lowry.
They also added free agents Paul George, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Caleb Martin, Reggie Jackson, and Paris national team hero Guerschon Yabusele.
The Philadelphia 76ers are expected to contend in the Eastern Conference with a reloaded squad. They aim to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000-01, when Allen Iverson was the team’s franchise player.
