Drummond named as Wall's All-Star replacement

Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond has been selected to replace injured Washington Wizards point guard John Wall on Team LeBron in next month's All-Star Game.

It's the second All-Star selection in the past three years for the 24-year-old, who's enjoying a career year in his sixth NBA season.

One of the most notable (and miffed) omissions in the initial selection process, Drummond was tapped as a replacement by commissioner Adam Silver for purely objective reasons: Because he "received the most voting points from NBA head coaches among Eastern Conference players who were not selected as reserves," according to the league's official release. It was the same rationale provided for Paul George's selection as DeMarcus Cousins' Western Conference replacement.

Drummond is averaging 14.7 points, a league-leading 15.1 rebounds, a career-high 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.4 blocks this season. He's made huge strides in areas of his game that had been weaknesses, be it passing, his free-throw shooting (which is at a career-best 62.5 percent compared to a career average of 40.8 percent), or, to a lesser extent, his defense.