NBA: 4 Old school style centers who are still relevant today

#4 Andre Drummond

Milwaukee Bucks v Detroit Pistons

The Big man in the middle, for the Detroit Pistons, for seven years running is Andre Drummond. Another old-school type center at 6'11 279 pounds, he is a load to handle like Dwight Howard. Drummond is similar to Howard in many ways good or bad.

They both are horrible free throw shooters with Drummond actually being worse averaging 42.9% from the charity stripe. Drummond can rebind. His career average is 13.5 per game and this season he averaging 15.5 per game. Drummond also averages 1.5 blocks per game protecting the rim at the defensive end for Detroit.

Drummond leaves you with a belief he could do more. He has been a two time NBA All-Star, but he has not maxed out his talent. However, Drummond isn't necessarily getting much better.

He stays on the floor because of the rebounding, passing and blocked shots. His scoring average is up to 17.9 per game this season. However, in this era of forwards and centers shooting from the arc, dribbling and leading the fast break Drummond offers none of this.

He is athletic and uses his size well around the basket and while he averages a double its still not outstanding. Drummond's post play is average at best. His post game does seem to improve slightly year over year but not by much.

He is almost unplayable in key situations since he cannot hit free throws. The clock stops in these scenarios giving the opponent extra time and opportunities to get back into close games against Detroit.

Defensively, Drummond is a rim protector, but still not an elite defender. According to the site stats.NBA.com, Drummond's opponents' field goal percentage is high at 53.9% this season. For a shot blocker, his opponents' field goal percentage is 62.2% from 6 feet or closer to the basket.

Detroit did give Drummond a 5 year $130 million dollar contract two seasons ago so they are either committed to him or stuck with him. Detroit did have a good start to this season but are now 15-14 in the win-loss column and 3-7 in their last ten matches.

JaVale McGee, Brook Lopez, Dwight Howard and Andre Drummond continue to toil in the NBA. Their position and styles of play are disappearing. However, all four of these centers have found a way to remain significant contributors to NBA franchises in the face of changing times and personal adversity.