The New York Knicks' biggest development from the first week of the season is that they went winless. Should they lose Tuesday in Detroit, they'll be the first NBA champions ever to open the next year 0-4.
A number of Knicks have yet to perform to their usual standards, but the biggest surprise so far centers on a center who's the only newcomer to the rotation.
James Dolan called the second apron "suicidal" when explaining why he wouldn't let the front office spend what it'd take to retain Mitchell Robinson. But its restrictive penalties don't kick in immediately.
Going over the second apron doesn't trigger the bad stuff; staying over it for an entire season does. So losing Robinson, while pennywise, was neither necessary nor imminent, and probably poundfoolish. Once the decision was made, the organization knew what it was losing.
The response was to sign Andre Drummond for the veteran's minimum, who's five years older than Robinson, missed 61 games the past two years (admittedly fewer than Mitch did) and spent virtually his entire career on losing teams. New York brought him in to a team coming off as kumbaya-copacetic a championship run as it gets. A team whose coach is known for treating the regular-season more as a petri dish than a proving ground.
So far, it hasn't clicked.
Through the first week, Drummond has only played 13 minutes a game, the second-fewest of his career. After 24 minutes in the opening game, he's played just seven in each of the next two. Reduced minutes versus poor play are the chicken-and-egg of basketball debates-a "which came first?" that can't always be answered. In this case, the egg came first.
Drummond hasn't shown much since his first game with the Knicks. He's also significantly slower than Robinson was, which-in addition to not always hustling, as was the case Sunday when he let Wendell Carter Jr. run past him for a transition lay-up-led Mike Brown to give some run to James Wiseman.
"I felt our transition defense wasn't good during that time, not just because of [Drummond], but I wanted to go with a change," Brown told reporters . "Wiseman's been playing well in practice. I wanted to give him an opportunity and I thought he was pretty good in his first stint [in the first half]. And so I decided to go with him for a second stint."
Drummond was signed, in part, because he's older. Because he's a veteran. Because, presumably by this stage of his career, he's made his money and reached whatever personal marks he was after, and now what he's after is a ring. The Knicks' only goal is another championship. Judge for yourself whether Drummond's response to being benched sounds like he shares the same outlook.
"Control what I can control. I can't do s-t about not playing," he said. "All I can do is cheer my teammates on and hope for the best." Asked if he knew why he'd been pulled, Drummond answered, "You can make the guess for me." He did, at least, allow that Brown "probably" didn't owe him an explanation.
Ignoring his play on-the-court, Drummond bristling at a week-one benching like he's Allonzo Trier is an unexpected development. And an unwelcome one.
But of course we can't ignore his play. It's why he was benched in the first place.
Drummond is big and strong, and still a plus-rebounder. But he's a thirtysomething center who doesn't have the hops that he used to. His ceilings and his floors are well-defined, and were expected to align with the Knicks' biggest areas of need.
And yet three games in-and herein is your legally required reminder that "it's still early"-the Knicks haven't just slipped from who they were a year ago, they're in free fall.
Last year's team was third in offensive rating; this year's is dead last. Drummond wasn't expected to score a ton, but he's on the short list of the better offensive rebounders in the NBA. No one expected him to mimic Mitch's numbers, but after ranking fifth in offensive rebound percentage last year New York is down to 18th. The Knicks were an A in that department, hoping Drummond could keep them up around a B. Instead they're a C-.
Sneakily, Drummond may be indirectly contributing to the Knicks' unexpected turnover issues (seventh last year, 14th this year) despite not having committed any himself. The team's most profligate player is Karl-Anthony Towns, who's committed a fourth of the team's total.
If Drummond had shown more off the bench so far-or Wiseman-the Knicks might be able to play KAT less. At this point, they can't, and while having Towns on the floor is generally a big positive, it's not when he's looking less like Earvin Johnson and more like Ervin Johnson.
If ever there were a chance for Drummond to bounce back with a big effort in a big game against a team ripe for it, it could be the Pistons game.
With Jalen Duren out for weeks with a right hamstring strain, the undefeated Pistons are currently rolling out Paul Reed and Tolu Smith as their center pairing. On the one hand, that duo had a third of Detroit's offensive rebounds in their recent win over Philadelphia, and the Pistons crushed it on their own glass, grabbing 34.9% of all possible offensive rebounds.
On the other hand, that wasn't Reed and Smith doing work on Joel Embiid; the Sixers started LeBron James at center and backed him up with Adem Bona. The Knicks have Towns and Drummond, with Wiseman in the wings. This is a game the Knick frontcourt should win.
It's always unfortunate but never unexpected when KAT gets into foul trouble. Wiseman's entire career to this point has been potential measured against mystery. The surest center in New York's rotation should be Drummond.
To this point, he's been as big of a surprise as any Knick, but the surprise has mostly been a letdown. Tuesday in Motown, Drummond and the Knicks can finally make their long-awaited arrivals this season. Better late than never.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/knicks/onsi as Andre Drummond Is Knicks' Biggest Surprise So Far (And Not in a Good Way) .
