7 potential landing spots for Cavaliers center Andre Drummond amid reported benching

When Drummond was traded to the Cavaliers at the 2019-20 deadline, then-Cavs big man Tristan Thompson was pretty excited.

Would he have a similar reaction if the Celtics were able to land Drummond at this year's deadline? We're not sure, but we know that the Celtics could use another big man. Thompson and the other bigs — Daniel Theis, Robert Williams and Grant Williams — have left much to be desired down low, and Boston could use a dominant big man like, say, Myles Turner, who was someone they could have acquired but chose not to get during the Gordon Hayward drama.

Boston is a bottom-five team in defensive rebounding and in the bottom ten in blocks per game. It's also been said that GM Danny Ainge is looking to upgrade at the big man position, something that Drummond would certainly help out with.

With that said, the Celtics might not have the assets to pull off such a deal. Drummond's monstrous contract doesn't even fit in the Celtics' massive trade exception from the Hayward deal, and mortgaging too many useful assets may not be their desired game plan.

A move for Andre Drummond wouldn't quite make a Big 4 in Brooklyn — we don't know if we can place Drummond on the same pedestal as Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving — but it would be pretty close. Losing Jarrett Allen hurt the Nets' interior, and DeAndre Jordan, Noah Vonleh and Norvel Pelle don't make for the most exciting trio of centers.

They also wouldn't easily be able to accomplish this through a trade, given that they have no pieces left to give on their bench and quite simply couldn't match the salary as they'd need to. But NBA reporter Shams Charania says that the Nets are one of several teams that would view Drummond as an intriguing commodity on the buyout market if that's what ultimately occurs in Cleveland. Charania also notes that "a buyout is clearly not the preference" — why would it be? — but that it may be the only way to get him out of Cleveland.

If Drummond wants to play for a contender for a year, the Nets are an intriguing option. They have a mid-level exception and a disabled player exception (from Spencer Dinwiddie), both of which are worth $5.7 million that they could use on prospective free agents (via Spotrac).

Don't sleep on the Hornets in the East. Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier are both experiencing career renaissances. LaMelo Ball is really blossoming and beginning to run away in the Rookie of the Year race. And a commanding big man like Andre Drummond, as opposed to current centers Cody Zeller and Bismack Biyombo, could propel them into winning territory, as they sit in sixth place at 13-15 to this point.

Whether it's through a trade that involves Zeller and other pieces or after a buyout, Charlotte could be a sleeper destination for Drummond. They're not the most immediate contender, but they're in the hunt and could gain momentum as LaMelo continues to evolve.

Another team that Charania says is in the mix via a buyout are the Mavs. A trade doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility due to James Johnson's large, expiring contract and other movable bigs like Dwight Powell, but it also may not be their preferred route.

Dallas is a bottom-ten team in both offensive and defensive rebounding, and Kristaps Porzingis (8.2 rebounds per game) is anything but your traditional 7-foot center. Drummond would help immensely in the rebounding department and could provide more capable scoring than other big men on the team like Willie Cauley-Stein and Dwight Powell.

Starting center Jusuf Nurkic still has quite some time ahead of him in his recovery from a broken wrist, while fellow big Zach Collins remains sidelined following surgery. Enes Kanter is a phenomenal rebounder, but if the Blazers want to seriously compete in the West upon CJ McCollum's return — which they do, given their offseason acquisition of Robert Covington — then Drummond is clearly a better presence inside.

The Blazers still have their bi-annual exception, worth $3.6 million, if Drummond gets to the buyout market.

Charania reports that the Raptors have already been involved with the Cavs in discussions regarding Drummond.

It's not hard to understand why. Losing Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, who helped to make Toronto a top-12 team in rebounding last year, have not been sufficiently replaced by Aron Baynes and Alex Len. As a result, the Raptors are at the very bottom of the association in total rebounding.

The fact that they're already engaging in trade talks might give them a leg up, seeing as the Cavs would much prefer a trade as opposed to a buyout. However, which pieces they'd include is a factor that's hard to figure out, as Drummond for Kyle Lowry straight up doesn't make much sense for either side.

The Wizards currently sit at the bottom of the barrel in the East with a 7-17 record, but you can't say that bringing in Drummond to pair with Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook wouldn't at least be interesting. Besides, the Wizards need a center after Thomas Bryant went down with a torn ACL early in the season, and even as bad as they've been, the Wizards are still only 3.5 games out of a playoff seed — that's how much the East drops off.

Washington has a bi-annual exception worth $3.6 million if Drummond makes it to the buyout market.

Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers are a bottom-12 team in rebounding and would use Drummond and would likely start him in the middle and move one of Nic Batum or Serge Ibaka to the bench (or use them in the trade).

Los Angeles Lakers
Want to play for a contender? This is about as good as it gets, and having Drummond as insurance for the recently injured Anthony Davis would be a nice security blanket.

New York Knicks
The Knicks are certainly in the playoff hunt, and trading for Derrick Rose shows that they're not backing down now. Mitchell Robinson is also hurt, though he will eventually come back, and it's doubtful they'll want to cut into his minutes too much. Drummond's expiring contract could also be seen as fitting into their earlier plans of taking on large, expiring deals but would also make them more competitive in a weaker conference.