

Possessions like that should make a return this season.

What about the three-point shooting??



More than anything else I am withholding judgment. I am hugely wary of any player making such a potentially radical change to their game, especially when it threatens to take them away from what makes them special (in Drummond's case, his rebounding) which is what this is. But I'm tentatively hopeful, Drummond has improved in such vast ways since he came into the league that he has earned some benefit of the doubt here. Until proven otherwise, I trust that he is approaching this with the sort of attitude and effort that is truly required to be an NBA caliber shooter and that he knows what he is doing.



That said, even if we assume he is at least somewhat competent as a shooter (a minimum of like 33% from deep) the question everyone has is "how many threes should he take per game??" and that is actually not the question or the worry with the change.

The reason to be a bit worried about Drummond shooting threes is that he is one of the best rebounders to ever live and also one of the league's best lob threats. Simply put, he would have to approach Dirk Nowitzki levels of shooting to threaten opponents beyond the arc as much as he does when he is around the hoop. As such, I don't care how many threes he takes, I care about how many possessions he spends loitering around the three-point line instead of skulking around the hoop.



If he takes three long-distance shots per game, but they are designed and calculated in specific spots and otherwise is doing the stuff he thrives at then I'm fully on board as long as he hits a few of them. On the other hand, if he takes only one or two from distance, but has a dozen possessions per game where he is harmlessly parked in the corner as though he is a super-expensive Reggie Hearn I would be hugely disappointed.



The key will be to find places to where he can pop for the occasional three without turning him into a glorified Marvin Williams. For instance, if Drummond is setting an off-ball screen for a cutter, and then quickly pops out to the line for a quick-hitting three would be a nice wrinkle to the offense.

Beyond that, we will just have to wait and see how many of them he hits. Who knows, maybe he is the real deal and is bombing three's at a high volume and approaching 40%, in which case, fire away. If he is around 30% however, then even the occasional action for him is mostly wasted.





Defense:

As stated above, Drummond made a big step on defense last season. This coming season one more step would be the last phase in him becoming the full monster he has the potential to be. Even if he makes no improvements, Drummond is a rock-solid anchor to the defense. He basically eliminates second-chance points, is a solid rim-protector, and a terror in the passing lanes. Most notably, he is athletic enough to switch out onto any player in the league and hold them. Drummond joined Anthony Davis as the only two players in the NBA last year to be in the top 20 in both blocks and steals, a remarkable feat that should be a goal again this year.

Drummond personally has said that leading the NBA in blocks is a goal of his this season, while I'm not sure that is an overly realistic goal, he's most effective on defense spending too much time away from the hoop to have enough block chances, but it's a good sign that Drummond's head remains in the right place.

The last hurdle in Drummond's potential assent into becoming a bonafide defensive player of the year contender is to read and react offenses a little bit faster. He largely conquered his lack of discipline last season, but he has to cut these plays out: