Andre Drummond agrees to two-year deal with 76ers
Andre Drummond.
Free-agent center Andre Drummond is headed back to Philadelphia, having reached an agreement with the Sixers on a two-year deal worth more than $10M, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (X link). The contract will feature a second-year player option, Scotto adds.
A few minutes before Scotto published his report, Drummond hinted at the deal himself, saying, “I’m in the mood for a Philly cheesesteak.”
A two-time All-Star, Drummond originally signed with the 76ers in 2021 to back up Joel Embiid and to fill in as the starter when Embiid was unavailable. However, he was sent to Brooklyn later that season as part of the trade package for James Harden.
After finishing the 2021-22 season with the Nets, Drummond has spent the past two seasons in Chicago as Nikola Vucevic‘s backup. He averaged just 15.1 minutes per game in 146 contests during his time as a Bull, well below his career average. However, he remained extremely productive on a per-minute basis, averaging 7.3 points and 7.9 rebounds in that limited role.
The Sixers, who attempted to acquire Drummond from the Bulls at the 2024 trade deadline, clearly made it a priority to land a reliable backup for Embiid, who has battled injuries over the years and appeared in just 39 games in 2023-24. Philadelphia reached a deal with Drummond just one hour into the free-agent period — he’s the first FA reported to have an agreement in place with a new team.
Based on the reported terms of Drummond’s deal, it won’t necessarily need to come out of the Sixers’ $60M+ in cap room. The team could use up that space, then sign the 30-year-old using a portion of its $8M room exception.
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