Drew Eubanks

NBA Investigating Suns For Possible Free Agency Gun-Jumping

October 25th, 2023 at 8:50am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has been conducting an investigation into the Suns for potential free agency gun-jumping, reports Marc Stein (via Twitter).

According to Stein, the league’s probe is focused on possible early communication with big man Drew Eubanks, who signed a two-year deal with the team in July. Eubanks’ agreement with Phoenix was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic at 5:05 pm Central time on June 30, five minutes after free agency officially opened.

A ruling is expected from the NBA soon, according to Stein, who observes that teams found to have jumped the gun with a free agent are typically docked a second-round pick.

At least one team in each of the previous three offeasons has lost a second-rounder due to free agency gun-jumping. The NBA penalized the Bucks in 2020 (for Bogdan Bogdanovic), the Heat and Bulls in 2021 (for Kyle Lowry and Lonzo Ball, respectively), and the Sixers and Knicks in 2022.

Philadelphia was forced to forfeit two future second-round selections for early contact with both P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, while New York gave up a single pick for talking to Jalen Brunson before free agency began.

There were many contract agreements reported in the first hour after free agency opened on June 30, so it’s unclear why the NBA opened an investigation into the Suns’ deal with Eubanks specifically.

Phoenix has traded away all of its own future second-round selections for the next seven years (picks in 2031 and beyond aren’t yet moveable), so if the team is forced to surrender a second-rounder as a result of the league’s findings, it will likely be Denver’s 2024 pick, which the Suns control.

Pacific Notes: Curry, LeBron, Eubanks, Fernandez

August 30th, 2023 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

Asked on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast last week about how long he’ll play in the NBA and whether he envisions himself emulating LeBron James‘ longevity, Warriors star Stephen Curry agreed that he could end up “somewhere in that range.” James will turn 39 in December and is entering his 21st season, whereas Curry is entering his 15th season at age 35.

“I never imagined myself being the 40-plus dude trying to hold on for dear life,” Curry said, per Jordan Elliott of NBC Sports Bay Area. “But who knows what my body will look like or feel like at that point? I got three years left on my deal, including at least that, and then kind of figure it out from there. … I don’t put too much of a timeline outside of my contract now just knowing that will give me 38 and 17 years in the league. I ain’t skipping out to go play golf just yet.”

Regardless of how many years he ends up playing, Curry’s expectation at this point is that he’ll remain with the Warriors for the remainder of his career.

“I am blessed to know and hope that no matter how many years I do play, [I’ll be] playing for one franchise and being a part of that group of the legends that have accomplished that feat and won at the highest level and all that,” he said. “I don’t ever take that for granted either. You got the Kobe [Bryant]’s, the Magic [Johnson]’s, Dirk [Nowitzki], Tim Duncan, those guys helped establish a culture, won, did it with a lot of different roster combinations and different parts in their career.”

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

Former NBA head coach Byron Scott expects LeBron James to surpass 40,000 career points and believes LeBron’s career scoring record will be extremely difficult to top. “I don’t think that’s going to be broken, especially in our lifetime,” Scott told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson (YouTube link; hat tip to HoopsHype). The Lakers forward needs just 1,348 more points to reach 40,000 — he has fallen short of that figure in just one of his 20 NBA seasons (he scored 1,126 in 45 games in 2020/21).
In the second part of his interview with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (subscriber link), Suns big man Drew Eubanks discussed his preparation for the season, why he views himself as more of a center than a power forward, and the role he expects to play for his new team. “I’m not going to have as much responsibility on the offensive end as it will be on the defensive end,” Eubanks said. “Like I said, we have three elite scorers. … Really where my mark is going to be made is getting them open, rebounding, defending, blocking shots.” We previously passed along some highlights from the first part of Eubanks’ conversation with Rankin.
No World Cup team has registered a better point differential through three games than Canada (+111). The work Kings associate head coach Jordi Fernandez is doing with the Canadian national team is further strengthening his case to become an NBA head coach, which is expected to happen sooner or later, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Drew Eubanks Talks Suns, Lillard, Beal, Durant, Booker

August 27th, 2023 at 3:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After drawing interest from several playoff hopefuls in free agency this summer, Suns center Drew Eubanks decided to ink a two-year, minimum-salary deal with Phoenix in the hopes of winning his first NBA title. The agreement features a player option for the 2024/25 season.

The 6’9″ big man recently sat down with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic for an extensive interview.

“It was kind of a no-brainer to go with Phoenix when the time came,” Eubanks said. “They’ve been high on me really since I had a pre-draft workout with them back in the day and they’ve always kept in touch with my agent [James Dunleavy of Excel Sports Management] throughout my career.”

Across 78 contests with the Trail Blazers in 2022/23, Eubanks averaged 6.6 PPG (on .641/.389/.664 shooting), 5.4 RPG, 1.3 APG, and 0.5 SPG off the bench.

The conversation is well worth checking out in full, but here are some highlights:

On his free agency this past summer:

“I had interest from other teams along the same lines of what Phoenix was offering, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I had an offer from Phoenix right out the gate. They were very high on me. My agent was saying they had the most interest out of anybody. Being able to go play for a contender and to play with guys like [Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal], I just couldn’t turn that down. That’s kind of how I got there.

“I got a little taste of what it’s like playing with a superstar with [former Trail Blazers teammate Damian Lillard]. I feel like every step in my career so far has prepared me for the next. I’m looking forward to the challenge in Phoenix and bringing some of what I learned playing alongside Dame last year and doing that with KD, Book and Beal.”

On what he learned playing alongside Lillard:

“If I had business cards I had to hand out everybody of the one, two or three things I excel at that, it’d be hustling, blocking shots and setting screens – and finishing at the rim. With Dame, you’ve got to respect him as soon as he comes off a screen. My screens are so effective with Dame, he would come off and be able to shoot wide open 3s. When my guy would step up and try to take his 3 away, they might do a hard double team on Dame, I just flip out of it, get in the pocket. He’s a great passer. He’d hit me and then you just go play four on three on the back end. There was a lot of that last year where I never really played with such a dynamic guard coming off a screen where I just got rep and rep of attacking mismatches and having numbers downhill. I’m a great screen setter.”

On how he can help the three star perimeter players on Phoenix:

“I’ll be able to get Book wide open 3s, I’ll be able to get KD wide open 3s, Beal, all those guys and they want to double one of them, that’s fine. They can kick it to me, I’ll drive, I’ll find the shooter in the corner, find the shooter at the wing or I’ll go finish at the rim. There was a lot of that last year that [Portland center Jusuf Nurkic] did well. He was really good at that in years past and last year, too. So I got to learn a lot from him in that regard. Just being able to play off those guys and let them to do their thing and try to make their job as easy as possible.”

Pacific Notes: Paul, Kuminga, Warriors, Eubanks, K. Brown

August 4th, 2023 at 9:13pm CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Wednesday (YouTube link), Warriors head coach Steve Kerr discussed the addition of point guard Chris Paul and what he can bring to the team, highlighting Golden State’s turnover issues in 2022/23 and the future Hall-of-Famer’s ability to take care of the basketball.

As Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes, Paul has never come off the bench in his lengthy career. Following Team USA’s practice on Friday, Kerr brushed aside that topic, noting that it will be a matter for a future date.

“I think that’ll be a case where you get three weeks of training camp before that first game,” Kerr said. “We’ll just look at all kinds of different combinations.

“The main thing is we know all those guys are gonna play a lot of minutes. But the luxury of having Chris Paul to add to this group that we’ve been lucky enough to have for a decade … pretty remarkable. He is one of the great competitors in the game. He’s one of the great point guards of all time. I think he’s a great addition for us, because of his ability to control games, control tempo, take care of the ball.”

Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga believes he’s primed for a breakout season in 2023/24, he told Leonard Solms of ESPN at the Basketball Without Borders camp in South Africa. “This upcoming season is definitely the year,” Kuminga said. “A lot of people are expecting so much from me – and myself; I’m expecting a lot. It’s a lot of pressure, but I don’t really pay attention to the noise. The pressure is always going to be there. It’s just [on] me to go out there and perform.” The former lottery pick also discussed mentoring his fellow African countrymen and the importance he places on “growing as a person,” per Solms.
What can the Suns expect from free agent addition Drew Eubanks? Gerald Bourguet explores that question in detail for PHNX Sports, writing that the big man’s shot blocking, mobility, foot work, athletic finishing, solid screening, and physicality are positive traits he’ll bring to his new club.
The Clippers selected former Missouri forward Kobe Brown with the 30th overall pick in June’s draft. They’ve been impressed with Brown’s versatility and willingness to make winning plays, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “He can do a lot of things without having the ball in his hands, as you saw,” Summer League coach Dahntay Jones said. “…He can do a bunch of different things to complement the cast that we have already. He knows he’s a basketball player first. He doesn’t hang his hat on scoring. He hangs his hat on having a positive effect on the game of basketball.”

Suns’ James Jones Talks About Rebuilding Roster

July 24th, 2023 at 10:40am CST by Arthur Hill

In an interview with Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic, Suns president of basketball operations James Jones gives himself an “eight out of 10” for how he was able to construct the team’s roster around its new Big Four. Jones was limited in the moves he could make after trading for Bradley Beal to team with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Deandre Ayton, but he found an intriguing mix of veterans and young talent.

Eric Gordon turned down better offers and accepted a veteran’s minimum deal for the chance to win a title. Yuta Watanabe, Chimezie Metu, Drew Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop and Bol Bol also agreed to sign for the minimum.

“We knew going into it who our four top players were,” Jones said. “The guys who were going to lean on heavily to reach our goals. I think that gave us more clarity and I think it gave the players more clarity around how we would play and how they could fit with our team.

“So when it comes to minimums, I think it’s that label or contract value that people look at, but I look at it more from a perspective of identifying the guys who have the attributes and skills that would complement our group and finding players that believe that this environment will increase their productivity and give them a boost for their careers going forward. This was more forward looking than backwards looking for us and for the players that we targeted.

“I think that clarity allowed us to move quickly and efficiently through the free agency process because we knew exactly who we wanted and we knew exactly who wanted us.”

Jones addresses several other topics in the discussion with Rankin:

On the decisions to re-sign Josh Okogie and trade Cameron Payne to the Spurs:

“Just balancing versatility, and I’m not just talking about from a player skill set and roster construction perspective, but it just gives us options. It gives us options from a roster perspective. It also gives us options going forward. JO is someone who had a tremendous impact on our team last year in a specific role that we think can grow and Cam was someone who had an impact on our team, but he was part of a team that was a different team that played differently. Those two moves allowed us to create balance and gave us some versatility and options to continue to build a more complete team.”

On Bol’s potential after a promising season with Orlando:

“He’s going to get a chance to compete. He fits the profile of the team we’re trying to build. Long, athletic, skilled. Has played some high-level basketball. Has dealt with high expectations and has bounced back from some tough setbacks. The mental grit, the resilience and adaptability that he’s displayed is something that I think will help improve our team and if he can play the way he envisions himself playing, it just gives us another high-level player that we can count on and rely on as we try to march toward a championship.”

On new owner Mat Ishbia’s input during his first offseason with the team:

“He talked about speed, focus and understand what it is we’re trying to accomplish and get after it. Don’t second-guess it, don’t overthink it. Trust your instincts, trust your team and then go out there, find the best options for us and then make those options work. For me, it’s clear focus. He’s given me clear direction that allows me to focus on the things I enjoy the most, which is figuring out how to maximize the environment for our players and coaches and get a win.”

Pacific Notes: Suns, Warriors, Saric, Lakers’ Moves, Carroll

July 3rd, 2023 at 10:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Suns’ willingness to give numerous free agents a two-year deal with a player option has helped them trump the Warriors in the free agent market, as Anthony Slater of The Athletic explains.

Golden State has been unwilling to provide minimum-salary offers with a second optional year due to luxury tax implications and the risk of committing a 2024/25 roster spot to a signee who didn’t work out. The Suns also had more playing time available and those factors helped sway Eric Gordon, who was the Warriors’ top backcourt target in free agency.

The Warriors are planning to go with a 14-man roster and have two slots open, which they intend to use on bigs, Slater writes. Power forward Dario Saric remains their top target still on the board.

We have more from the Pacific Division:

The Athletic’s John Hollinger gives the Suns high marks for their free agent catches, including a couple of underrated players in Keita Bates-Diop and Drew Eubanks. Bates-Diop, who previously played for the Spurs, could emerge as a key role player in the postseason, since he can guard multiple positions and shoots reasonably well from long distance. Eubanks is an energetic backup center who’s a superior rim protector and defender than Jock Landale, whom the Suns let go.
The Lakers‘ front office made a series of shrewd moves this summer, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times opines. The Lakers’ didn’t chase another star, as they have in the past. Instead, they re-signed Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura and signed two other solid players in Gabe Vincent and Taurean Prince, rather than trying to sign Kyrie Irving or trade for Bradley Beal.
DeMarre Carroll is joining the Lakers as an assistant coach, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets. Carroll was an assistant on Mike Budenholzer‘s staff with the Bucks last season and now will join Darvin Ham‘s staff. Carroll played for the Hawks when Budenholzer was the head coach there and Ham was one of the assistants.

Suns Officially Sign Drew Eubanks, Keita Bates-Diop

July 3rd, 2023 at 10:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Suns have made it official with two free agents who agreed to join the team early in free agency, having officially signed center Drew Eubanks and forward Keita Bates-Diop, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

While many deals reported over the weekend can’t be formally completed until this Thursday, minimum-salary signings are one of the transactions that can be finalized during the July moratorium. Both Eubanks and Bates-Diop agreed to two-year, veteran’s minimum deals that feature second-year player options.

Eubanks, 26, emerged as a reliable rotation player in Portland over the last season-and-a-half, averaging 8.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 22.3 minutes per game across 100 appearances (50 starts). He also shot 64.3% from the floor during his time as a Blazer. He’ll have an opportunity to back up Deandre Ayton in Phoenix, with Jock Landale leaving the Suns for the Rockets and Bismack Biyombo seemingly unlikely to return.

Bates-Diop, a second-round pick in 2018, is coming off his best season as an NBA player. He averaged 9.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists with a .508/.394/.793 shooting line in 67 games (21.7 MPG), including 42 starts, for the Spurs last season. He’ll be among the Suns’ minimum-salary signings who will vie for minutes in a rotation headed by the star trio of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bradley Beal.

The Suns still have several more reported signings to officially complete, including minimum-salary deals with veteran guard Eric Gordon and forward Yuta Watanabe.

Suns Sign Four Free Agents

June 30th, 2023 at 5:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 11: The Suns have officially signed Okogie, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.

“Josh plays with relentless energy. His grit, intensity and athleticism are vital to the success of our team,” Jones said in a statement. “He consistently makes winning plays on both ends of the floor. He is truly unique.”

JULY 7: After officially signing Eubanks and Bates-Diop earlier in the week, the Suns have finalized Lee’s deal as well, per a press release.

“Damion’s elite three-point shooting, championship experience and toughness help elevate our team,” general manager James Jones said in a statement. “His leadership and professionalism are pivotal as we pursue an NBA title.”

JUNE 30: The Suns have reached agreements with four free agents, including two of their own.

Forward Josh Okogie is re-signing with the Suns, Chris Haynes of TNT and Bleacher Report tweets. Guard Damion Lee is also returning on a two-year deal with a player option for the second season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Power forward Drew Eubanks is leaving the Trail Blazers to sign a two-year deal with a player option, The Athletic’s Shams Charania tweets. Spurs forward Keita Bates-Diop is signing with Phoenix on a two-year, $5MM contract that also features an option, Wojnarowski tweets. Bates-Diop will have a chance to earn a starting spot — presumably, he’ll battle Okogie to start alongside Kevin Durant.

Okogie started in 26 of 72 regular-season games last season for the Suns, averaging 7.3 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.8 minutes. He also started in half of their 10 postseason games.

Lee saw action in 74 of Phoenix’s regular-season games and averaged 8.2 points in 20.4 minutes. He made a career-best 44.5% of his 3-point attempts.

Eubanks averaged 6.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in 20.3 minutes while appearing in 78 of Portland’s games, including 28 starts. He figures to play backup minutes at power forward and perhaps center. Bates-Diop started 42 of the 67 games in which he played for San Antonio last season. He averaged a career-best 9.7 points and 3.7 rebounds in 21.7 minutes.

Western FA Rumors: D-Lo, Lakers, H. Jones, Suns, Warriors

June 30th, 2023 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

There are “strong” indications that the Lakers are trending toward a new two-year deal with free agent point guard D’Angelo Russell, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. According to Fischer, that two-year contract could be worth in the neighborhood of $40MM in total, though the second season may be a team option or non-guaranteed.

While the Lakers have interest in re-signing both Dennis Schröder and Lonnie Walker, it’s unclear which one the club is prioritizing, Fischer writes. Schröder will likely require a raise that exceeds the Non-Bird exception, so if Los Angeles uses its mid-level exception on an outside free agent, the team may have to allot its bi-annual exception to him, Fischer explains. In that scenario, it’s unclear whether the team would have enough room to re-sign Walker to a market-value deal as well while remaining below a hard cap.

Another potential path would see L.A. splits its mid-level between Schröder and a frontcourt player such as Mason Plumlee, sources tell Yahoo Sports. If Schröder doesn’t end up back with the Lakers, a reunion with Bulls coach Billy Donovan in Chicago is possible, Fischer writes. Donovan previously coached the point guard in Oklahoma City.

Finally, Fischer is one of a handful of reporters who have linked free agent forward Cam Reddish to Los Angeles. The Lakers were said to have some trade interest in Reddish – a Klutch Sports client – during each of the past two seasons. He’d be a minimum-salary target, Fischer notes.

Here are a few more free agency rumors from around the Western Conference:

Two forwards who had their team options declined by the Pelicans on Thursday figure to take very different paths this summer. According to Fischer, Herbert Jones will likely end up back in New Orleans on a four-year deal worth a little more than $50MM, which would presumably be his Early Bird maximum. Willy Hernangomez, on the other hand, is considered a good bet to accept a lucrative offer from a EuroLeague team rather than seeking another minimum-salary NBA deal, Fischer reports.
The Suns intend to bring back several of their own free agents, including Torrey Craig, Damion Lee, Jock Landale, and Josh Okogie, according to Fischer, who says agent big man Drew Eubanks is another strong candidate to end up in Phoenix. Fischer is also the latest reporter to link Yuta Watanabe and Mike James to the Suns.
The Lakers and Warriors are among the teams eyeing free agent guard Shake Milton, per Fischer. Free agent forward Dario Saric has also received “strong” interest from Golden State, sources tell Yahoo Sports.

And-Ones: Felicio, Howard, Silver, Eubanks

June 11th, 2023 at 1:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Former Bulls center Cristiano Felicio is re-upping with Spanish club Covirán Granada for a second straight season, reports Dario Skerletic of Sportando.

After going undrafted in 2014, the Brazilian big man eventually made enough of an impression on Chicago with his performance on the club’s 2015 Summer League team. He joined the Bulls on a two-year minimum deal in 2015.

Prior to the existence of the Bulls’ own NBAGL affiliate club, the 6’11” vet logged developmental time with Cavaliers’ then-D League affiliate, the Canton Charge, on assignment from Chicago. He would also go on to get some run with the Bulls’ G League team, the Windy City Bulls, throughout the rest of his Chicago tenure.

Felicio inked a generous four-season, $32MM contract to stick with the team in 2017, but fitness and health issues prevented him from ever becoming a major part of the Bulls’ rotation. Across his six seasons in the NBA, all with the Bulls, Felicio averaged 4.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 0.7 APG in 252 total contests.

He went on to continue his career internationally. Felicio first latched on with German club Ratiopharm Ulm in 2021/22, before joining Covirán Granada last year. During his first season with Granada, Felicio averaged 12.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG across 22 MPG.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

During an interview with TVBS News Taiwan (YouTube video link), 18-year NBA pro and future Hall of Fame center Dwight Howard has claimed he may need to take a significant pay cut to stick with the Taoyuan Leopards in 2023/24. “I was offered a contract which was 65% less than what they gave me the first time to come to Taiwan,” Howard said. “I felt like that was very disrespectful.” Per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Leopards CEO Chang Chien-wei revealed that there would be a new calculus for determining Howard’s salary in the ensuing season. Across his 20 healthy games last year, Howard averaged 23.2 PPG, 16.2 RPG and 5.0 APG.
During a recent conversation on The Dan Patrick Show (YouTube video link), NBA commissioner Adam Silver touched on the controversial involvement of the Saudi Arabian government in international sports, including how he felt it could impact basketball (h/t to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic for the transcription). “When the Saudis invest in sports, it gets outsized attention,” Silver said. “We allow funds to invest in teams but not control teams, not to have influence over teams… So to own an NBA team there has to be an individual with a certain percent of the team to control it.” The NBA changed its rules last season to allow sovereign wealth funds to invest in up to 20% of an NBA team, meaning the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund could theoretically purchase a portion of a club in the future.
Trail Blazers big man Drew Eubanks may be able to play for Italy’s national team in international team competition. Per Orazio Cauchi of Basket News, the Italian federation has been looking to potentially naturalize Eubanks. The 6’9″ center/power forward, a free agent this summer, has Italian familial ties, though sources inform Cauchi that it remains unclear whether or not that will be enough for him to earn a passport and be able to play for the club. The 26-year-old averaged 6.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.3 SPG and 1.3 BPG across 78 games last season.

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