CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman’s brilliant trade for two-time All-Star center Andre Drummond a year ago will end as a gigantic waste of time and money.
The NBA trade deadline passed quietly for the Cavs as no one traded for a player everyone knew Altman would be forced to buy out.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports first reported that Drummond would not be dealt.
“It’s good for both of us to be honest with you. It’s good for the organization. It’s good for Dre, too,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said on a Zoom call Thursday. “I couldn’t say enough good things about how he’s handled all this because it wasn’t easy. He’s a competitor. He wants to play. He loves his teammates. His teammates love him.
“And he could have been a jerk and had an attitude and not been good with his teammates and said negative things. But he never did. He handled it professionally. But more so, Dre’s a great dude. He can never stoop to that level and that’s one of the things that we need to make sure that we focus on and remember, how gracefully he handled an extremely difficult situation.”
After sending backup center JaVale McGee to the Denver Nuggets for center Isaiah Hartenstein and two future second round picks in 2023 and 2027 that are also protected Thursday morning, Altman was unable to work any other magic before the 3 p.m. eastern deadline.
Drummond, who could’ve opted out of his contract during the offseason but picked up the $28 million player option, hasn’t played since February 12 following a mutual agreement to sit him following the acquisition of Jarrett Allen from Brooklyn.
Wherever Drummond lands after his buyout is completed, Bickerstaff and the Cavs will be rooting for him.
“There’s no reason not to root for him,” Bickerstaff said. “He deserves it as a person. He deserves all the success he has that is coming his way. He puts the time in. He works his tail off.
“Early in the season when we got to 10 wins, we wouldn’t have had those 10 wins without him. We were ranked at the top of the league defensively. We wouldn’t have been ranked if it wasn’t for him. I got nothing but great things to say about my experience with Dre and I wish him the best moving forward.”
Cedi Osman and Larry Nance Jr., who were also mentioned in trade rumors, remain Cavs as well.
Cleveland is 17-27 this season but just 2 ½ games back of Chicago for the 10th seed and a spot in the playoff ‘play in’ tournament.
J.B. Bickerstaff praises the professionalism of veteran center
