Should Andre Drummond be Practicing Free Throws Instead of Dunks?

NBA Twitter is having some fun with the above tweet sent by Matt Steinmetz, a Bay Area sportscaster. He believes Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond should have declined an invite to participate in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and used the time to practice shooting free-throws instead.

Drummond’s woeful shooting from the stripe has led Pistons opponents to intentionally foul him and may eventually contribute to a rule change. While Steinmetz has predictably become a target for vitriol, it’s impossible to argue that an NBA team with a primary offensive option who shoots 35 percent from the charity stripe doesn’t have a problem.

The idea that Drummond spending a few hours concocting new dunks to entertain fans is preventing him from becoming a respectable foul-shooter is laughable. But at the same time, it’s amusing to see masses rush to defend the historically bad production by Drummond. The Pistons aren’t in any rush to say it but you can bet they’d be in favor of more free-throw practice for their All-Star — whether that takes place at the expense of dunking or otherwise.

Obviously most people don’t think being an imperfect player precludes one from participating in semi-important All-Star Game skill contests. If that were the case, there’d be no dunking or three-point shooting events.

The question, though, becomes: when is it acceptable to point out a 35 percent free-throw shooter needs to improve? Terrible foul-shooting seems to be a very sensitive topic and it’s important to know when to wade into the tumultuous waters in the future?

Like, say I wanted to suggest Drummond should try — just try — to shoot some 15-footers underhand a la Rick Barry? It’s working for Louisville forward Chinanu Onuaku and it seems like there’s nothing for Drummond to lose except his pride. When … when would be a good time to suggest something like that?