The Philadelphia 76ers had to swallow a rough sight only a couple of hours into the 2026-2027 NBA season: Andre Drummond, now in a New York Knicks uniform, opened his night against his old team with 12 points and 14 rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench. For a moment, it looked like the Sixers might be staring at a regret that would linger.
That feeling hasn’t lasted.
Drummond’s big first impression hasn’t carried over, and the Knicks are already treating his minutes like a movable piece. Three games into the season, Mike Brown has shifted some of those backup center reps to James Wiseman.
After Drummond’s strong showing against Philadelphia, he logged only seven minutes in each of the next two games. Wiseman’s usage climbed from a DNP to two minutes and then seven against the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
Brown explained after Sunday’s game that transition defense was part of the reason for the change. With New York stumbling out to a surprising 0-3 start, the Knicks decided it was worth testing whether Wiseman could handle the minutes better.
Drummond finished with four points and three rebounds in seven minutes, going minus-one. Wiseman didn’t exactly seize the moment either, missing all five of his shots and grabbing two rebounds.
The numbers favored Drummond, but the rotation decision made the bigger point: his leash in New York is short right now.
For the Sixers, the center picture is still messy. They tried to turn over Drummond’s spot by bringing in Ariel Hukporti, a New York castoff, and planned to let him battle Adem Bona for the backup job.
That idea collapsed in the preseason when Hukporti suffered an Achilles tear that ended his year. Bona returned after missing the preseason, but his early play has been uneven, and Philadelphia’s depth at center is thin.
Still, beyond that quick revenge game against the Sixers, Drummond hasn’t turned into the kind of loss that makes Philadelphia second-guess letting him walk. The bigger problem for the Sixers is what’s happening at center now, not what Drummond did in one opening-night burst.
In Other News...
Sixers Could Catch Pacers At The Perfect Time Wednesday
Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe are expected back in the 76ers lineup Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers, giving Philadelphia a major boost after both sat out the previous game with injuries. Even with those reinforcements, the Sixers are still working around several absences of their own, including Dominick Barlow, Tacko Fall and Jabari Walker, so the rotation is not exactly at full strength yet.
Still, the timing could matter. Indiana arrives with its own injury concerns, and the Pacers have several players on the report, including some key names who are either out or in question for the matchup. For a Sixers team trying to stabilize itself, this is the kind of spot where getting Embiid back can change the feel of the night quickly, even if the full picture on the other side is still coming into focus. [Read more 🡒]
Adem Bona Just Put Real Pressure On The Sixers Backup Center Race
A recent run of minutes gave Adem Bona the kind of opportunity the 76ers have been waiting to see him seize. In 25 minutes, he finished with six points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, a line that underscored why the coaching staff had already envisioned him as part of the center rotation. With injuries thinning the big-man group and Andre Drummond gone, the pathway behind Joel Embiid has opened wider than expected.
Bonas case is built less on scoring than on the traits Philadelphia needs most when Embiid sits: activity, rim protection and work on the glass. The competition for backup center minutes is still shaped by who is available, but Bona has clearly put himself in position to be the primary option off the bench. For a team trying to preserve Embiid while staying solid in the frontcourt, that is no small development. [Read more 🡒]
Why The Nets Wanted No Part Of Jaylen Brown
Before Jaylen Brown ever got to Philadelphia, the Nets apparently had a chance to bring him to Brooklyn and passed. According to league insider Brian Lewis, Boston floated Brown in trade talks, but Brooklyn declined in large part because of his close relationship with Kyrie Irving, a connection the organization apparently did not want to revisit after the turbulence of Irvings run there.
For the Sixers, the backstory is part of the larger appeal of landing a player who has settled in and produced right away. Brown is performing well this season, and while the Brooklyn angle is mostly a what-if now, it helps explain why his arrival in Philadelphia mattered beyond the normal trade chatter. The Nets may have had their reasons for staying away, but the Sixers are the ones benefiting from what they saw as a clean fit. [Read more 🡒]