The Los Angeles Lakers have signed two-time All-Star center Andre Drummond, the team announced Sunday.
The move was made official just hours after Drummond cleared waivers at 5:00 p.m. ET.
"Andre Drummond gives us powerful, anchor-point skills on both ends of the court," Rob Pelinka, the team's vice president of basketball operations, said in a statement.
"We feel extremely fortunate to add a player of his caliber and magnitude to our core group at this stage of our journey to defend the NBA title," he added.
Drummond will come with roughly a $555,000 cap hit for the Lakers, who will sit approximately $954,000 below the hard cap and can still add a 15th player to their roster, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.
The UConn product had been linked to multiple teams after the Cleveland Cavaliers bought him out, including the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks.
Shortly after clearing waivers, Drummond confirmed he intended to sign with L.A. before the organization announced the deal.
Drummond enjoyed a strong start to the season, averaging 17.5 points, 13.5 boards, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks over 25 appearances. But the Cavaliers had held him out since Feb. 14 while pursuing a trade.
The 27-year-old was an All-NBA third-team selection in 2016 and has captured four of the last five league rebounding titles. He's shown improvement as a playmaker of late, ranking in the 85th percentile among big men in assist percentage this season, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Drummond should help a Lakers squad that's struggling to get production from the center position.
