With the NBA Cup providing a break in the schedule for the Philadelphia 76ers earlier this week, it was a good time to reflect on the first quarter of the regular season. While the Sixers have certainly had some letdowns since the season first tipped off back in October, I think anyone would have realistically been happy with a 13-10 start, particularly following the morass of misery we had to wade through a year ago.
We could go down the list of reasons for the early success, many of which provide
positive indicators for the Sixers’ future: Tyrese Maxey making another leap, rookie VJ Edgecombe being That Dude, Daryl Morey finding contributors with minimum or two-way deals like Trendon Watford, Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker, etc. But there’s one big surprise that probably doesn’t have an impact on the future, but sure is helpful in the present: Andre Drummond’s reemergence as the innings-eater center the Sixers signed up for two summers ago.
Dealing with a toe injury last season, Drummond looked like a shell of himself, arguably not even a viable NBA player any longer, let alone the guy with two All-Star appearances under his belt. People threw the Washed word around for him, bemoaned Morey giving him a second year on the deal, and wondered how the contract could be salary-dumped. Fortunately for the Sixers, his poor play appears to have been almost entirely a result of that toe and not due to his hitting his early-30s.
Drummond has rebounded this season both literally and figuratively, with higher rebounds and blocks per 36-minute stats than last season, and lower turnover and personal foul per-36 numbers. Moreover, buoyed by his new three-point-shooting prowess and an excellent 59.4 percent figure on two-pointers, Drummond’s true shooting percentage of 60.2 percent would be the second-best mark of his career. (Andre’s new three-point weapon isn’t the focus of this piece, but nearly doubling his career total for made triples in 22 games while shooting 37.9 percent is absolutely wild.)
The Sixers have surely needed that giant production from Andre this year. To no one’s surprise, Joel Embiid has missed over half the team’s games due to issues in both knees. Adem Bona has missed a bit of time, but also still fouls too often to be a consistent presence. You can’t bank on second-round picks, obviously, but there hasn’t even been a hint of Johni Broome being a thing. Meanwhile, Drummond has shown on-court abilities new and old, and most importantly, had availability. He has appeared in 22 of the team’s 23 games, only surpassed by Tyrese Maxey not missing a contest, while even playing through a knee sprain of his own. His presence in the pivot has been crucial for the Sixers thus far.
Prior to the season, you could have convinced me that Tyrese “one percent better every day” Maxey would enter the All-NBA discussion. A third overall pick like VJ Edgecombe providing day-one value is hardly unheard of in the sport. But a guy in his age-32 season, with a positional skillset that typically ages poorly, suddenly doing a 180 in value and adding a super helpful new trick to boot? That’s truly surprising. For a fan base that has had to deal any number of negative surprises in recent years, let’s embrace the positives ones that come our way.
