A year ago, life was good for Andre Drummond.
Fresh off of signing a five-year, $127 million deal with the Detroit Pistons, the team that drafted him in 2012, the future looked bright for the 6 feet-11, 270-pound big man.
But after a sluggish season where the entire team underperformed, Drummond has been forced to realize he can be traded just like anyone else.
The rumors started around the February trade deadline and have continued throughout the offseason.
Drummond, 23, admitted Thursday that going from franchise cornerstone to franchise afterthought bothered him.
"I never had to deal with that before," Drummond said via conference call to promote his appearance _ along with other NBA stars _ in South Africa this week.
"It was tough for my family and me to hear those rumors, but guys making that much money, not having the year they're supposed to have, obviously that's what's going to happen. I've accepted that."
The NBA and National Basketball Players Association are conducting a series of fan engagement, youth development, community service, business and sports medicine events this week in leading up to Saturday's NBA Africa Game 2017, the league's second game in Africa, which will take place at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg.
Drummond arrived last week with his mother, Christine Cameron. They went on safari with Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker and his mother. A temporary respite from the rumor mill.
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters earlier this offseason that the rumors "hurt" the one-time All-Star.
But it appears that Drummond has been reassured that the organization still has confidence he can get his career arc trending back upward.
"I wasn't playing the way I was supposed to play and they were looking for a better option, but they still have faith in me and believe that I can still be on this team and get us to where we need to get that down," Drummond said.
