Drummond 'looking forward to building new empire' with Griffin

Rome wasn't built in a day, but Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond thinks his team's blockbuster acquisition of Blake Griffin is a big step toward becoming an Eastern Conference juggernaut.

"It's a new chapter," Drummond said Tuesday, via ESPN's Nick Friedell. "We've got three new guys coming in, so it's something to really look forward to. Obviously, Blake is a hell of a player, a great passer as well too, so I'm looking forward to building this new empire with him."

Drummond, who was named a replacement All-Star on Tuesday, thinks he can play off the power forward better than Griffin's former center with the Los Angeles Clippers, DeAndre Jordan.

"I think I got a little more to my game than DeAndre does offensively," Drummond said. "But I think it's going to be a lot more fun."

Much like the Clippers, there are natural concerns about pairing two non-stretch bigs together in a pace-and-space league, but Griffin remains an impact player when healthy. He's also a big-ticket name whom the Pistons will hope helps at the box office.