Andre Drummond raised some eyebrows when he seemed to put a firm expiration date on his Nets tenure when discussing Nic Claxton’s role with the team earlier last week.
Claxton, Brooklyn’s 22-year-old center averaging a career-high 8.7 points and 5.5 rebounds so far this season, stayed put at the trade deadline, which Drummond said was a smart move since he would soon be on the move.
“If we’re all being honest, I’m only here until the rest of the season.” Drummond said. “Who knows what’s gonna happen in the offseason?”
Drummond, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, felt that too much focus was being put on the first half of that sentence, and not the second half. He clarified that he simply meant his fate with the Nets would be unknown.
“Would I love to be here? Absolutely,” Drummond said. “Can I control that right now? No. I can only control what’s happening right now. We know that. So don’t misuse my words. That’s not fair to me & that’s not right.”
To be fair to Drummond, even if his initial remarks were meant to hint that he wouldn’t be back in Brooklyn, it wouldn’t be an outlandish statement. The Nets are up against the salary cap and likely won’t be able to bring Drummond back on a new contract. The 28-year-old isn’t the two-time All-Star he was during his days with the Pistons, but at 28 years old, he is still productive, averaging 12.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game during his time with the Nets since being brought in as part of the return package for James Harden.
Brooklyn could of course try and move contracts around to clear space to bring Drummond back, but it certainly doesn’t seem like a given by any means, which made Drummond’s comments seem understandable if not surprising. But he made sure to clarify what he meant when he spoke again on Tuesday.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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