Andre Drummond picking up his player option for next season

As expected, Andre Drummond is picking up his player option for next season. The New York Times’ Marc Stein first reported the news.

This isn’t a surprise. For one, $28.7 million is way, way more than Drummond was likely to get on the open market. There aren’t many teams with cap space and no all of them need centers. From the moment they traded for Drummond, the Cavs expected him to pick up his option. Drummond has also been in Cleveland for a little while now, including attending a Browns game over the weekend.

What comes next is the question. Will he get flipped now? Will he be flipped in the season? Will he play out the deal? Each of those outcomes right now feels much more likely than Drummond signing on extension with the Cavs as of right now.

Financially, Drummond picking up his option leaves Cleveland with no cap room, but room under the tax and the full mid-level exception to spend. Again, this was expected. Part of the season the Cavs were comfortable trading for Drummond was that they felt the money spent on Drummond was better than anything expected to be on the open market.