NBA Free Agency: Mavs' Interest to Sign Bulls' Andre Drummond Stifled

The Mavs were considered a likely landing spot for Andre Drummond if he opts out of his final-year player option to enter free agency.

DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks' priority remains to re-sign Kyrie Irving in free agency, but there are clear needs to address in the supporting cast as well. Among the top needs include overall improvement on defense and rebounding. 

"I think for us going into the offseason, the two biggest things that we need to work on is defense and rebounding," Mavs general manger Nico Harrison said during his exit interview. "That's going to be addressed."

According to Marc Stein, the Mavs were expected to reach an agreement on a contract with Andre Drummond early in free agency if he declines his $3.36 million player option to depart from the Chicago Bulls. He later decided to exercise that option to return to the Bulls.

"Multiple rival teams have told me this week that they expect Dallas to come to terms early in free agency with former All-Star center Andre Drummond … provided Drummond, as expected, declines his $3.36 million player option with Chicago before his Thursday’s deadline to do so," Stein wrote.

With the Bulls, Drummond averaged 6.6 rebounds, 6.0 points and 0.7 steals in 67 games this season. He only played an average of 12.7 minutes per game, which was by far the lowest in his NBA career. In fact, it was the first season he averaged under 15 minutes per game and just the second instance of playing fewer than 20 minutes on a nightly basis. 

The main appeal of adding Drummond for any NBA team is his rebounding ability. He's still only 29-years-old, but has received a diminished role since his lengthy tenure with the Detroit Pistons ended, causing him to have many short stints around the league, primarily filling a bench role. 

The Mavs added Dereck Lively II in the NBA Draft and acquired Richaun Holmes in a trade with the Sacramento Kings that occurred that same night. There is still a need to add a starting caliber center at least as a stopgap option until Lively develops into being the player the team envisions. JaVale McGee remains signed, but is not considered to be a part of their plans going forward.

Drummond does grab a lot of rebounds, but is mostly limited to playing a drop coverage brand of defense. He doesn't tend to offer much resistance in the paint as a rim protector and isn't a player that will swarm in the half-court or handle switching with much effectiveness. 

While post-ups have strongly been reduced from Drummond's repertoire since no longer being the Pistons' franchise cornerstone, he remains largely more inefficient than one would expect for an interior play finisher relying on putbacks, rim rolling, and cutting, but perhaps he would be maximized with superstar playmakers. 

Irving and Drummond were teammates during the 2021-22 season with the Nets, but they were limited to only appearing in 15 games together. Drummond has familiarity with head coach Jason Kidd from their time with the Los Angeles Lakers, along with previous experience with assistant coach Sean Sweeney in Detroit.

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Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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