But the problem is you're saying there's an argument to be made for him, otherwise why make the thread and ask the question? You don't see people making threads asking if Earl Barron is the best center in the league because obviously he's not. But there's no argument Drummond is the best center, either as a complete player or even defensively. For one thing he can't even stay on the court for a long period of time. Secondly you said a lot of goofy things in your OP like how you've never seen the guy play (and yet you're trying to make a whole post on how good he is), and how you don't think Howard is better defensively. The only way your post would make sense if you said is if he's looking like he'll be one of the best C in the future, but that's like saying water is wet.
I don't think Drummond is the best C in the league. His stats look good and he is having a very productive rookie season. Very similar to Landry's rookie season, only on a losing team. What if he is everything Anothy Davis was hyped to be? The truth is nobody knows what he is capable of given starters minutes until he gets starters minutes. Drummond has only had two games this season playing over thirty minutes, and those were argueably his two best games. The sample size for Drummond producing when given starters minutes is too low to really know if it's sustainable. I'm just curious what he will do when given starters minutes. We all watched an undrafted guard take the league by storm last season when given chance, it wouldn't be too crazy to think a lottery-center could do it too. Varejo and Howard are out right now. Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol aren't exactly lighting it up.
Andre Drummond has basically identical measurements and draft combine numbers to Dwight. He's already playing at a comparable level to Asik and he's only going to get better. His playing time is limited because he's a rookie, and they have Greg Monroe out there playing centre. While everyone thinks it's nice to have a Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond front-court, it hasn't looked pretty when they've been together. Omer Asik is Andre Drummond's floor, with his ceiling either marginally under or over Dwight, but we'll have to see how his post-game develops in the off-season for a better gauge, and that will be dependent on whether the Pistons can manage to get Drummond and Monroe to play together or trade one or the other for a suitable piece to build around moving forward.
royce white is the best 1st rounder in last years draft to not have played a single second in an nba game
He's playing at future superstar level. Maybe it's good for him to be picked 9th, which motivates him. His PER is already way way better than Asik this season, and I heard fans from Asik's native country saying Asik's playing at this level in Europe and Chicago for many years(peaked?).
You mean the human foul magnet that had the worst footwork in the league and had no offense beyond a sneeze? I don't doubt Oden would have been a very good defender, and an all star in the current NBA... but not the best.
Statistical evidence in this case, is faulty. Per 48 mins is not a true indicator of how good a player really is.
While per 48 doesn't tell the whole story, it is a chapter. How do you know it's faulty? Stats alone never tell the whole story, but that doesn't mean they should be completely ignored.
He's not near the best yet. But he has that kind of talent. Right now he looks fairly clueless on the floor, he's missing plays and rotations both on O and D. But his talent and aggressiveness is still making him a very high impact player. Right now, he's like a huge 290 pound puppy that's getting a lot of bones because he's quicker, bigger, meaner than the other puppies and he has a good nose. But he'll get so much better when he grows up and learns where the bones are buried.
He was already a rebounding and blocking monster at the NBA level when he was 19 and already had an imposing NBA body at that time too, and was already getting a lot of points off putbacks and dunks. Let's say he stayed healthy, it's logical to assume he could have developed a post game 4-5 years later and averaged close to 20 points a game, then you throw in that he most likely would have been leading or right at the top in rebounding and block shots.
Can't say he's the best OVERALL center in the NBA at the moment, sure his per 48 minutes stats is pretty well up there but I'd definitely rate alot of other centers ahead of him at the moment. I'd rate Marc Gasol, Tim Duncan, Joakim Noah, Al Hartford and others ahead of him. Sure as a rookie center he's putting up great numbers for the minutes he's playing, but as a defensive center, even Tyler Zeller is putting up decent blocks/rebs numbers up. He has great potential to be way better though. Once he figures out a go to move on the offensive floor then we can make a case for him for being the best center.
I watched him in college and I watched his first game against the Rockets. To the people who can't stand my honesty in telling that "I haven't really seen him play", really, who is watching Detroit games? Can any poster honestly say that they have watched 5 Pistons games this season. The question was posed because on paper he is looking elite, like a injury/drama-free, grossly underpaid, no ego Dwight. I realize that stats are just one variable in determining a players value, that is why I posed the question. And I'll even say if he gets a few more minutes a game, he should get some votes for 6th Man of the Year. He wont get more votes than Jamal Crawford and Martin, but should raise some eyebrows.
From very insubstantial data you've managed to stretch a huge assumption on his development. He could've just been another Tyson Chandler. Not every player develops like Hakeem.
Here is another fun stat. If Drummond's numbers stay the exact same for the rest of the season, he will be the first player to put up 7.5 pts, 7.4 rbs and 1.6 blks in 20 minutes a game or under, in NBA history. The last time anybody got close was Lasalle Thompson in 84. He needed 23.9 minutes to do it.
