Veteran center Andre Drummond, who spent the first seven years of his life in Mount Vernon, New York, prior to moving to Connecticut, signed a one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Knicks this summer. Jim Calhoun, Drummond’s college coach at UConn, believes he’ll be a “perfect fit” with the Knicks, per Andrew Crane of The New York Post (subscription required).

“The game can do so many things for you,” the 84-year-old Calhoun, the longtime Huskies coach who retired from the program in 2012, told The Post, “but the one thing it didn’t do with him: it never spoiled him. And I think he becomes a great addition to the Knicks, who don’t need any disruption.

“They got it going, and obviously, they have a great leader and the coaching has obviously been very good. He’s a nice piece basketball-wise. He’s also a really nice piece teammate-wise, which doesn’t disrupt your team.”

Jere Quinn, Drummond’s high school coach, explained why he thinks the 32-year-old big man could fill a vital role in the wake of Mitchell Robinson‘s departure to Boston.

“He has a nose for the ball,” Quinn said of Drummond’s rebounding. “He has a knack for it. … It’s such a needed skill on every team because as everybody puts teams together, everybody still wants to find that one guy who can do that. And, as I said, he does it better than most.”

Here’s more from the Atlantic:

• Nets owners Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai are getting divorced, but they say it’s amicable and won’t impact their sports businesses, write Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico. The Tsais technically control a majority stake in the team through a parent company called Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE).  “Joe will remain chairman and Clara will remain vice chair of [BSE],” the couple said in a statement. “Joe will remain governor of the Brooklyn Nets and Clara will remain governor of the [WNBA’s] New York Liberty. They will continue to own and be stewards of the teams with professional management in place as they always have.”
• New Sixers president of basketball operations Mike Gansey has not only revamped the starting lineup by acquiring Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, he has also placed a greater emphasis on finding potential on-court contributors with the final few roster spots, according to Adam Aaronson of PhillyVoice. As Aaronson points out, those back-end spots have been held in recent years by veteran leaders like Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon, who were at the very end of their careers.
• Various reports have suggested LeBron James is considering living in New York City and commuting to Philadelphia by helicopter. Fred Katz of The Athletic takes a look at why that possible arrangement, which has not yet been finalized, could be both complicated and expensive, though the potential cost probably won’t have much effect on the Sixers star’s thinking.