Lakers: No need to worry about Andre Drummond’s poor first game

Many thought that Andre Drummond would be the saving grace for the Los Angeles Lakers championship aspirations and a third star to pair with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

If his debut with the team is any indication of how his time with the Lakers will go, then it will be a very uphill battle to an NBA title for the Lakers this season.

Drummond had an awful debut in which he finished the game with four points, one rebound, two assists, one block, three turnovers, and four fouls. Along with this, he shot an abysmal two for six from the field and zero for two from the charity stripe.

He was forced to leave the game early in the third quarter after a contusion to his right big toe.

If this is a sign of things to come for Andre Drummond then the Lakers will quickly be back in the market for a center.

However, it is still way too early for anyone to brand the Drummond signing as a failure or begin to trash him as a player.

There are a handful of reasons to explain why his debut with the Lakers was so bad.

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The first being the toe injury. It is clear that his toe was bothering him. It later would come out that it was a toe contusion. With such a physical style of play that Drummond has adopted, an injury even of this caliber is something that will greatly hold him back.

Along with this, the injury kept him from finishing the second half of the game. It is possible that things could have begun to click for Drummond in the second half and no one would have any doubts about the signing.

The second possible reason as to why Drummond had such a bad debut is the circumstances surrounding the game. This Lakers team is the first time that Drummond has had a serious chance of winning a title. Up to this point in his career, he could just play for stats and at the end of the day if his team lost it was not a big deal.

Also, this is his first game with an entirely new team. Drummond likely did not want to play overly selfish right off of the bat and it led to him passing so much. This explains why he finished with two assists in just one half which is typically what he averages in a game. It also explains why he had so many turnovers.

Once he gets more comfortable with his new teammates and in a new system, Drummond will understand that the team does not need him to be a facilitator and while that may cause his assists to take a dip, it will also cut down on his turnovers.

The final possible reason as to why Drummond had such a disappointing debut is that this was the first game he has participated in for months.

To force his way out of Cleveland, Drummond informed the team that he would not be playing again until he is traded or bought out. Because of this, he is not in game shape and is a step behind.

This clearly showed in the game. He almost never has so many careless turnovers and many of the fouls that he committed would be blocked if he was locked in.

While the Drummond welcoming party wound up being a pity party by the end of the game, fans should not write him off just yet. He is one of the best traditional centers in the league and especially once LeBron James returns, the sky is the limit on what Drummond is capable of on this roster.