CHICAGO -- A menacing grace at 6-foot-10 and 279 pounds, Andre Drummond is one of the very few old-school bigs that have not been swept away by a modern NBA that emphasizes speed and 3-point shooting.
He is a Bullmastiff in a playground full of greyhounds, but Drummond has adapted because he has the mobility and vertical leap that recently discarded giants such Roy Hibbert and Timofey Mozgov did not possess.
But just like Shaq, a behemoth from a bygone era, Drummond is nightmarish from 15 feet.
Through 576 regular season games, he sank just 1,267 of 2,766 freebies, a sorry 48 percent clip. In contrast, Steve Nash, the NBA's all-time leader in that category at 90.4 percent, missed only 324 of his 3,384 free throws in 18 seasons.
Drummond can't shoot 3s, either.
Entering his eighth season, the 9th pick of the 2012 NBA draft out of the University of Connecticut has swished only 10 of 86 triples, an errant 11.6 percent rate.
Despite those limitations, Drummond is still performing at an All-Star level, averaging 17.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per through 34 games this season.
He is also currently the No. 1 rebounder in the league at 15.8 per, plucking boards with the determined ease of a professional apple picker.
Alongside the resurgent Derrick Rose, who is averaging 16 points and 5.7 assists off the bench, Drummond is one of the few bright lights for the injury-decimated Pistons, who are 13-24 and 13th place in the Eastern Conference.

So why is Detroit in a hurry to trade Drummond?
Like most All-Stars, he is expensive. He makes $27 million this season, which translates to P16.7 million a game for 82 games.
More importantly, Drummond has a player option worth $28.7 million next season, which means he can walk away with Detroit not getting anything in return.
The Pistons have the sixth-highest payroll in the NBA at $136.8 million. They owe Blake Griffin $109.6 million through the 2021-22 season and they are eager to shed players with high salaries.
Unlike the oft-injured 30-year old Griffin, Drummond is only 26 and just approaching his prime, making him the easier asset to move.
"I'm not a quitter. Never brought up to be a quitter. I started here and I'm trying to finish here and try to complete the mission of winning a championship here. It'll never be me that wants to go anywhere," Drummond told The Detroit Free Press.
Unfortunately, Detroit doesn't embrace the same enthusiasm, largely because keeping Drummond would mean signing him to a max deal in the neighborhood of at least five years and $150 million.

All that being said, expect Drummond to be shipped before the February 6 trading deadline, most likely to the Atlanta Hawks.
LOVE HURTS. A couple of readers vehemently insisted that I was wrong when I wrote that Kevin Love is 6-foot-8 tall in a previous column.
One said that the angry Cavalier is at least 6'10 while the other had the temerity to mention my lack of research.
Listen, I'm paid to write this column as often as my schedule will allow. And I'm very good at it largely because I am a conscientious fact-finder when it comes to laying the groundwork for an article.
For players' stats, I rely heavily on BasketballReference.com, a website whose allegiance to truth and accuracy is biblical.
So here's a friendly public service announcement for my readers who like to argue without the factual legs to support their claim: Don't embarrass yourselves. I care about you.
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