What Might Go Right and Wrong for Knicks With Andre Drummond This Season

The veteran big brings New York some new skills and question marks.

The New York Knicks will hope that Andre Drummond (right) can bring some rim protection after the loss of Mitchell Robinson. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A dozen different New York Knicks played at least 400 minutes last season en route to the title. 11 return to defend it. The lone loss, Mitchell Robinson, was replaced with Andre Drummond, at least for the time being.

Whether Drummond ends up the second- or third-string center boils down to weighing the new things he brings to the table vs. what he brings that the Knicks could do without. Drummond offers a little of both, starting with durability.

Last year, backing up Joel Embiid, he played 1,231 minutes, the third-fewest of his 15-year career, yet more than Robinson has played in any of the past three seasons and four of the last six. While the Knicks nursed Robinson through the first 82 games in 2025-26, strategically resting him to avoid ever playing consecutive nights, Drummond played nine back-to-backs. If the greatest ability is availability, Drummond figures to be an upgrade.

While Robinson is the game’s premier offensive rebounder, Drummond is no slouch. Had Robinson played enough minutes to qualify, he would have led the league in offensive rebounding percentage; had Drummond, he’d have been third. But whereas Robinson’s shot diet consists entirely of dunks (and the very occasional free throw), Drummond might as well be Karl-Anthony Towns.

Nearly the same age now as Brook Lopez was when he shifted his scoring game from the post to the perimeter, Drummond emerged as a sudden three-point shooting threat last season, going from averaging just one 3-point make and 10 attempts per year in his first 14 years to 32-of-90 (36%) in 2026.

Prior to Towns, the last Knick 7-footer to make that many 3s in a season was Luke Kornet seven years ago. Anytime KAT or Drummond are in the game, the Knicks can play a five-out offense, and we saw in the playoffs how difficult it is for teams to stop.

Can Andre Drummond's pros outweigh his cons as backup behind Towns?

Harder to quantify but no less essential than rebounds is appetite. Drummond is the only Knick who hasn’t won a championship. The Knicks are coming off the most glorious summer of all 30 teams, but also the shortest. They need new blood, the hungrier the better. Drummond has been an All-Star; he’s been All-NBA. His career earnings are north of $150 million. It just so happens that the one hole in his resume is the one the Knicks are most qualified to fill. So, in addition to depth, he could bring the primal hunger needed to reach the pinnacle – especially in a group where all the other members just made the climb.

Of course, Drummond was not exactly an innocent bystander in his prior teams’ playoff histories. Knicks fans will recall Drummond was on the Philadelphia team that New York swept out of the second round with extreme prejudice. That was the farthest he’s ever gone in the postseason, where his teams have gone 6-23, lost five of six series, and been swept times. Is that bad luck? Or proof Drummond isn’t a “winning player?"

The New York Knicks are hoping that former Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond (left) can hold up the backup gig behind Karl-Anthony Towns. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Is Drummond cursed? If ever a seven-footer would look at home in a robe, carrying a scythe, he would; Drummond’s arrival tends to signal the end is nigh. He joined the Cleveland Cavaliers 18 months after LeBron James led them to four straight Finals. Then signed with the Los Angeles Lakers the year after LeBron led them to a title, then joined the Nets the year Brooklyn began breaking things down by trading James Harden.

If that’s all too abstract, there are concrete concerns; the biggest is the one people as big as Drummond are supposed to provide: rim protection. The Knicks lost all of their shot-blocking once Robinson signed with Boston – their leading remaining shot-blocker from a year ago is Mikal Bridges. Signing Drummond doesn’t add anything. Last year, within six feet of the rim, Robinson’s defended field goal percentage was 53%, and Towns' was 57%. Drummond? 67%. 

If New York looks likely to hemorrhage points in the paint, would that speed up the hunt for another center? Could New York go double-big, hoping Towns and Drummond defensively add up to more than the sum of their parts?

Drummond’s past sends mixed messages. He played eight minutes alongside Embiid last season, though he fared better when paired with Anthony Davis five years ago. 

Given Towns’ propensity for foul trouble, the Knicks may elect to stick with Drummond, strictly as a backup, at least until/unless the team acquires a viable third big. The remaining options are not without blemishes, but so long as Towns is healthy, the Knicks are likely more interested in what their backup bigs bring than worried about what they don’t.

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