When discussing Centers in the NBA most conversations turn to names like Deandre Jordan and Dwight Howard, or the newcomers like Karl Anthony-Towns and Jahlil Okafor. These players are all deserving of high praise, however there is one name that is constantly overlooked, Andre Drummond. Still a young player but no longer in that frosh-soph phase and stuck on an under .500 small market eastern team, most people have almost forgotten about the once heralded center. They are making a huge mistake, because out of the spotlight he is flourishing. With Greg Monroe now heading to Milwaukee and Josh Smiths mid-season departure to Houston, expect this already dominant big man to take the league by storm this year

Taken 9th in a draft where most said he would be a top pick, Drummond came into the league with a chip on his shoulder. He only played 20 mins a game his rookie year but he was still able to put up an impressive 7.9 ppg and 7.6 Rpg, and 1.6 Bpg. What makes his rookie season even more impressive is that he put up a PER of 21.6 in his first campaign. To put that in perspective the average PER of all the players in the all-star game that season was 21.8. Of course PER isn’t a perfect stat on deciding who’s the best player but is very comprehensive, and (unless you’re Charles Barkley) should not be ignored.

Drummond built on his rookie season and as a starter the next season, playing 32 mins and scoring 13.5 ppg with 13.3 rpg. A double-double average for a sophomore in the league is impressive even if his minutes increased. In his last season he came up with similar numbers at 13.8 ppg and 13.5 rpg even though he played two less minutes. His increased productivity over his first three seasons has been remarkable and the efficiency he’s been able to do it with has been comparable to some of the best centers in the past 30 years. Howard is the only other center that started at 19 years old and none of these centers has been as effective from the start as Drummond.