The Andre Drummond effect is real, and the Bulls are experiencing it

Andre Drummond comes from the school of “It ain’t bragging if it’s the truth.”

The Bulls veteran big man dropped some truths on Wednesday.

Discussing the overall improvement his new team has made in the rebounding department so far this season, Drummond said, “You have the best rebounder of the past century on your team, I take rebounding seriously. And I know that’s something this team lacked. Going after every rebound is something I bring to this team. And I think it’s showing.”

Oh, it’s showing.

The Bulls are coming off a 2021-22 campaign in which they often came up small on most nights. Even with Nikola Vucevic averaging 11 rebounds a game last year, he watched his team finish 28th in the league with 42.3 boards per contest.

Only Philadelphia and Houston were worse.

Enter Drummond thanks to free agency, and so far the returns have been almost instant. Sure, it’s only been a handful of games, but the Bulls were currently up to 15th in the league, grabbing 44.8 rebounds per game.

Of course Drummond is doing his part, ripping down 8.5 per game in an average of just 15.3 minutes of work. His per 36 minutes, however, plays out to 20.1 rebounds per game.

But there’s also a Drummond effect.

The guy that has to battle with Drummond almost every day in practice is also seeing his rebounding numbers tick up. Through the first four games, Vucevic was averaging 13 rebounds per game, including a 23-rebound game in the Monday win over Boston.

“I played against him a lot over the years,” Vucevic said of the way the two push each other. “It’s great competition when you go against a guy who has been playing so long and has been an All-Star. It makes you better.

“I think through camp and all our practices, we’ve had good battles when we’re scrimmaged and done different drills. It has helped both of us. He’s definitely a load down there on the boards. I use my quickness. He definitely has a big size advantage, even over more. It makes me have to work extra hard to keep him off.”

It also helps that Drummond feels like he should be a starter, and practices that way.

Last season, the biggest push Vucevic was getting during intrasquad showdowns came from Tony Bradley, and eventually Tristan Thompson later in the year.

Drummond is a four-time league rebounding leader and a two-time All-Star. That means no coasting for Vucevic.

“I think that’s what makes this team very good,” Drummond said. “We both know we’re very good players and that brings the next level out of us. With our second unit, it’s pretty much a starting lineup.”

Billy Ball

Coach Billy Donovan has been speaking to Lonzo Ball (left knee surgery) on a daily basis since he returned to Chicago and started rehabbing at the Advocate Center, but offered up no clear timetable for a possible return.

Ball had the surgery a month ago, and at the time was given a window of four-to-six weeks before being re-evaluated. According to Donovan, however, there was nothing told to him just yet.

“I have not heard anything as of yet with that,” Donovan said. “He’s doing good. He feels like he is progressing, he’s pretty optimistic and positive about everything. I think the biggest thing is through the surgery, the incision healing to continue to progress him, and I just don’t know how far along he is in that process.”

Donovan did say that Ball was expected to stay in town for the re-evaluation.

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