Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond led the NBA in rebounding by a comfortable margin last season; his 14.8 rebounds per game average was a full rebound-per-game higher than DeAndre Jordan’s 13.8. Heading into 2016-17, Drummond has his eyes on a second rebounding title. From NBA.com’s Keith Langlois:
“I’m going to win the rebounding crown again. I’m going for it – no doubt about it. Try to get back to the All-Star game again and try to bring another guy with me, Reggie or (Caldwell-Pope) or Marcus (Morris) or Tobias. Be able to stay in games longer, knowing I can be fouled and shoot the shot. Really just pushing my teammates to be great. I’m really excited for everybody. This is a huge year for (Caldwell-Pope), a huge year for Reggie to come back and be a better player. Tobias, another year for him to come back and show the league why he belongs on this team, and Marcus, he continues to prove everybody wrong – that he is a hell of a player.”
Drummond also tells Langlois that he is excited about the team’s improved bench:
“No knock on the guys that were previously here – I would love to still play with them and for them to still be here – but the guys we have now, it’s the most talented bench we’ve had. I’m excited. Not only do they play hard, but they jell well with each other already. I’m just excited for the season all the way around.”
Drummond definitely has a right to be excited about the Pistons upgrading their bench. Last season, Detroit had the NBA’s worst bench. To fix that, they signed a superb backup point guard in Ish Smith, and a solid big man in Jon Leuer.
