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Obviously Andre is a special and unique athlete, and the things he does and the way he moves for a guy his size is phenomenal. That being said, could he lose some weight?

Dre measured at 6'9" 3/4 without shoes at the Draft Combine in 2012, and is usually reported to be getting around at 279lbs, so ideally IMO he'd cut around 20lbs to the 259-260 mark. That being said, at the same Draft Combine, he measured at 7.5% body fat, so he's not actually fat, just big. Obviously he's still very young and is likely still growing into his body, but would it be better for his career long term though (as far as maintaining/improving his athleticism, guarding against injury and wear and tear) if he dropped a bit of weight? I'd hate to see him get any heavier or have a poor/wrongly-focussed off-season where he balloons out or bulks up.

Thoughts?

He weighed 279 at the NBA pre-draft combine, with 7.5% body fat. I'd like to see him lifting weights to fill out his upper body, and he should weigh ~290 in his prime.

StickAndMove wrote:He weighed 279 at the NBA pre-draft combine, with 7.5% body fat. I'd like to see him lifting weights to fill out his upper body, and he should weigh ~290 in his prime.

Is it really necessary for him to be that big though? And is it worth it, considering the potential for injury/wear and tear?

I think his body fat shows that there wouldn't be a lot of weight for him to drop. His legs are huge, his frame is enormous. This is something to capitalize on, not minimize. His wingspan is over 7'6".

If Drummond makes the most of his potential, I see him ideally as somewhere between Shaq and Dwight Howard, in terms of size, capability, and play style.

Yes, hes way over weight

& he should play harder too

Clarity wrote:Yes, hes way over weight

& he should play harder too

Exactly, and not airball layups.

On a serious note, he's faster and quicker than just about anybody on the court other than guards, not to mention more athletic. There would be no point in losing weight.

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So your basically proposing that Drummond looses muscle.

I don't think Drummond should lose muscle. All he really needs to do to be a 10x NBA All-Star is work on his free throw shooting. Get it up to 50%. That is all. Nothing more. Also, he should be able to average over 2 blocks per game but I think he'll still end up averaging that this year.

He just turned 20 years old a couple months ago and he is-

#1 in NBA FG%
#4 in RPG
#3 in Double-Doubles
#14 in SPG
#26 in BPG

He has a 21.33 PER.

Realistically, Drummond will improve his PPG, RPG, APG, FT% and BPG over the next couple of years. I want him to weigh 280 - 300 pounds.

I'm not convinced that he needs to lose weight, but he does need to get in better shape, even though he has improved since last year. Further, and I assume this is ongoing, he needs to be putting in some serious work in the weight room. He doesn't play as strong as you'd expect of a player of his size. I'm assuming some of this can be attributed to his youth. His best game will come when he dominates the paint though a combination of athleticism and strength. Whatever he weighs when this is achieved, whether higher or lower, is fine.