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NBA All Star Game voting: Andre Drummond pushing for a bid to New York

Andre Drummond is back to being Andre Drummond. His play may or may not get him into the All-Star game. Regardless, Drummond is using social media to get his votes.

By Jason Brunskowski
Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Pistons play in New York City tonight against the New York Knicks. Andre Drummond would like to play in New York again on February 15th in the 2014-15 NBA All-Star Game and is using Social Media to garner some votes.

For whatever reason, the embed code to include the caption is not working, so here is the text included with the picture:

18 days piston/#DreDay fans send me to New York for the all star game!!! Tweet Andre Drummond & use #NBABallot! More easy ways to vote: http://t.co/yvd9NxHK85 http://t.co/D0udsT5HxP

Now, before I get too far into any analysis of whether or not this can happen, here are the different ways you can (AND YOU SHOULD) vote for Andre Drummond to be on the All-Star team.

  1. Go to the NBA All-Star website and vote
  2. Use the NBA Game Time App
  3. Text the Player's last name to 69622
  4. Use #NBABallot on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (need to include player's first and last name).

Andre also clarified for some:

You can vote daily, and I am pretty sure you can vote daily for each method. GET ANDRE DRUMMOND TO THE ALL-STAR GAME!!!

Why do I want you to vote for Andre to get to the All-Star game? Because that is likely the only way he is going to get there. He is no longer available for the Rookie vs. Sophomore game, he is not going to be selected for the Skills or Three Point challenge, and as far as the Dunk Contest, Drummond has not displayed many "flashy" dunks in his NBA career that weren't from lobs. If he were to do the dunks in games that we have seen in his high school and college videos, maybe he would be in the Dunk Contest, but he hasn't.

The starting lineup is selected to the All-Star game by the number of votes they get. The reserves are selected by the head coach. With there being up to 13 players on each team (there were only 12 for the Western Conference last year), that means Andre would have to be one of eight players selected by the coach if he is not voted in. Let's think about that for a moment.

The NBA has gone to a system now where when you vote in a player, you vote them in as either a guard or a frontcourt player. What this means is that it is possible for the fans to vote in three small forwards into the starting lineup, or three centers, or three power forwards. IF on the off chance that three centers were voted into the starting lineup (not going to happen), I highly doubt the coaches would then use their reserve choices to pick Andre. But let's assume that only one center is chosen for the starting lineup.

Without being able to look at the current vote getters, what are the best frontcourt options right now? Looking at B-Ref.com and sorting by WS/48 with a minimum of 500 minutes played, Andre Drummond is ranked 60th. Based on this list, you have Brandan Wright, Jimmy Butler, Jonas Valanciunas, Nikola Mirotic, Patrick Patterson, and LeBron James in the top 20 alone.

Now, if you change that sort to PER, he is now 22nd. In the East that would include LeBron James, Brandan Wright, Jimmy Butler, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Nikola Vucevic, Tyler Zeller, Pau Gasol and Jonas Valanciunas all before Andre Drummond.

Let us assume that at most nine positions will be taken up by the front court players. In both of the above lists, Drummond would be on the outside looking in. However, if you go to vote on the All-Star website, you will notice that they are sorting the players based on PIE, or Player Impact Estimate. What you will also notice is that you will see Greg Monroe's name before you see Andre Drummond's. Monroe has a PIE of 14.0 whereas Drummond is at 12.0. Again, forwards and centers are combined in the front court, and doing so will push Drummond further down the list.

The NBA All-Star twitter account tweeted yesterday an early look at the current votes:

What names do you not see on that list? Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. That MAY have something to do with their current 8-23 record.

Now, Drummond has been filling up the stat sheets more of late. However, it might be too late. I am not sure when the coaches make their selections, but voting ends on the 19th of January. Drummond only has 10 to 11 games left before voting closes, and 23 before the All-Star break. Maybe Drummond can push it statistically. He has had three 20 rebound games in the last six and only had one (this season) before then. He has not shot below 40-percent from the field in his last 10 games, but had nine such games prior to that. One thing that I do not think should hurt him (considering the way the All-Star game is played) is his free throw shooting.

Even with Drummond not showing up on the list provided, I still think voting is likely the only way Andre gets on the team. Most coaches will not select a player from an 8-23 team. The head coach this year is likely to be Dwane Casey out of Toronto, though Mike Budenholzer is giving him a run for his money. Either way, both of them have players that will not be voted in (Valanciunas, Paul Millsap and Al Horford).

So use your freedom, do your civic duty, and get out there and vote (from the comfy couch or bed you are possibly attaching yourself to tonight for the game) for Andre Drummond to start the NBA All-Star game. You know you want to.

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