Losing Mitchell Robinson to the division rival Boston Celtics was a real blow to the New York Knicks, who were simply not going to go past the second apron to sign a backup center. On Friday, they addressed that need with a poor-man’s Robinson by signing free agent Andre Drummond to a one-year, $3.9 million deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. 

Drummond, who spent the last two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, has been around for a long time. This will be his 15th season in the league. According to SNY’s Ian Begley, that was a big reason why New York went after him. They like Drummond’s veteran experience and his rebounding to fill some of the void left by Robinson, one of the best offensive rebounders in NBA history. 

Drummond is an all-time rebounder himself. His career 25% rebound rate is the best ever. He played 62 games for the 76ers last season, and when he was on the floor, he rebounded 20.2% of all misses. That was the second-best rebound rate in the league. Who was the best? Robinson, who brought down 21.4% of all misses. If you take the stats at face value, Drummond and Robinson performed strikingly similarly last season. 

Where they separate, on paper, is with Robinson’s 72.3% shooing clip against Drummond’s 47.2%, but that is because Robinson basically doesn’t shoot anything that isn’t a point-blank finish. Drummond doesn’t do much more, but he is a bit more of an active offensive participant outside of screening and crashing the glass. We all remember him actually taking and making corner 3s in the playoffs. 

Plus, Drummond’s 63.1% free-throw clip is basically Steph Curry compared to Robinson, who shot 40% from the stripe in the regular season and 29% in the playoffs. That’s a big deal. Drummond made 70% of his free throws in the playoffs. You can’t hack him off the floor the same way you can Robinson. 

It begs the question: Did the Knicks just get an equal player for a fraction of the $47 million the Celtics just paid for Robinson? The answer is no. Robinson is a much better defender. But listen, at the end of the day, the Knicks just blasted their playoff opponents by 22.5 points per 100 possessions with Robinson off the floor, per Cleaning the Glass, while falling to just plus-2.7 with Robinson on the floor. The 76ers were basically neutral with Drummond on the floor. 

That’s a small sample and we all understand these numbers are lineup and opponent dependent. Robinson is a better player. That’s why he just got a $47 million contract while Drummond is getting $3.9 million. But for a $44 million savings, which adds up to a bunch more with the taxes and roster-building restrictions they avoid by staying under the second apron, this is a heck of a bargain deal for the Knicks.