Drew Eubanks

Pistons’ Stewart Arrested For Punching Suns’ Eubanks Before Wednesday’s Game

February 15th, 2024 at 7:00am CST by Rory Maher

FEBRUARY 15, 7:00am: Stewart was arrested by Phoenix police for assault, according to Mark McClune of KTVK 3TV (Twitter link), who says the Pistons big man was issued a citation and was released. The police investigation into the incident remains active.

Meanwhile, Pistons head coach Monty Williams said after Wednesday’s game that the Suns’ statement on the incident was “irresponsible” (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press).

“I know Phoenix came out and said it was unprovoked. I think it’s irresponsible,” Williams said. “… Until you find out everything, you can’t make those statements. I heard about that, and that did not need to happen.”

FEBRUARY 14, 7:55pm: The Suns have released a statement regarding the incident, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link). “The attack on Drew Eubanks was unprovoked, and acts of violence such as this are unacceptable. We unequivocally support Drew, and will continue to work with local law enforcement and the NBA.”

A league spokesperson confirmed the NBA will review the altercation, Rankin adds (via Twitter).

FEBRUARY 14, 7:10pm: Prior to Wednesday’s game in Phoenix, Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart punched Suns center Drew Eubanks in the face, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The NBA is expected to review footage of the incident, Charania adds.

According to Charania and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, it’s unclear what initiated the incident, but evidently the two big men were “chest-to-chest” before Stewart landed a punch near Eubanks’ lip. Police separated the two players and “inspected the scene,” per The Athletic’s report.

Speaking to reporters pregame, Eubanks confirmed he was hit, as Gerald Bouguet of PHNX Sports relays (All Twitter links). Phoenix’s backup center said he’d just arrived to the arena and was in street clothes when the incident occurred, adding that he had never been involved in any other off-court altercations with Stewart.

“Words were said, I got sucker punched, and security intervened. … Clearly you can see what he does, how he acts on the court, so it wasn’t surprising,” Eubanks said.

Eubanks added that he was fine and will be playing tonight vs. Detroit, while Stewart is inactive with an ankle sprain.

Wednesday will mark Stewart’s eighth straight absence due to the injury, with his last appearance coming January 28. As Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press tweets, Stewart had been slated to return to action immediately after the All-Star break, but that return could be postponed if he’s suspended, which seems very likely.

According to Sankofa (Twitter link), the Pistons had no comment on the altercation as of 7:15 pm CT.

In November 2021, Stewart was suspended for two games without pay “for escalating an on-court altercation by repeatedly and aggressively” pursuing LeBron James, who received a one-game suspension for “recklessly hitting Stewart in the face” and initiating the incident. Both players were ejected — Stewart received two technical fouls and James received a Flagrant 2 foul. The video of that incident can be found here.

Central Notes: Stewart, Eubanks, C. Porter, Dosunmu, Terry

February 14th, 2024 at 10:40pm CST by Rory Maher

During Wednesday’s game vs. Phoenix, the Pistons released a statement regarding the pregame incident between forward/center Isaiah Stewart and Suns center Drew Eubanks.

“We are aware of the incident between Isaiah Stewart and Drew Eubanks prior to this evening’s game. We are in the process of gathering information about what happened and what provoked it, and responding to the NBA and local authorities.”

Eubanks was punched in the face by Stewart after arriving at the Footprint Center. He said he was OK and called it a “soft punch,” per Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. Eubanks played in the game, while Stewart remains sidelined with a sprained ankle.

Here’s more from the Central:

Craig Porter Jr.‘s new four-year contract with the Cavaliers will pay him a guaranteed $1.5MM in 2023/24, nearly tripling the salary of his old two-way deal, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter). Porter’s base salary for ’24/25 is $1.9MM, with $1MM in guaranteed money. However, years three ($2.2MM) and four ($2.4MM) are fully non-guaranteed, with no special trigger dates beyond the league-wide guarantee date of January 7. The final season — ’26/27 — is a team option, Marks adds.
Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu had a stellar performance in Tuesday’s win over Atlanta, scoring a career-high 29 points (on 12-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three) and dishing out seven assists while playing terrific defense on Trae Young, who finished just 3-of-14 from the field, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. Dosumnu has become a much more consistent offensive threat of late, averaging 15.9 PPG on .592/.525/.773 shooting over in the 14 games (32.3 MPG) leading up to Wednesday’s loss to Cleveland. “He’s got incredible stamina and endurance,” head coach Billy Donovan said, per K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. “It’s a skill. [Udonis] Haslem had it. Joakim [Noah] had it. The more fatigued and tired they get, the more stubborn they get and the more competitive and the more they push. He’s got that in him. He can keep his motor running high. For him to do what he did offensively and then to play the defense he did was a pretty remarkable performance with the number of minutes he got.”
Second-year wing Dalen Terry has received rotation minutes for the Bulls in 2023/24 due to injuries to Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Torrey Craig (Craig has since returned), and while his performances have been uneven, he says the speed of the NBA game is starting to slow down for him, Johnson writes for NBC Sports Chicago. “This season I feel I improved a lot on my discipline, just realizing that sometimes my fouling gets me out of the game,” Terry said. “My confidence level is just so much different than it was last year. … My rookie year, sometimes I was out there and I was like, ‘Man, everything is going so fast.’ It just happened. Now I can see stuff happen before it happens. That’s been the easiest part to me.” Terry, 21, was the 18th pick of the 2022 draft.

Suns Notes: Lee, Durant, Eubanks, Watanabe, Tournament

November 24th, 2023 at 1:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Suns wing Damion Lee, who underwent right knee surgery last month, is still using crutches, but will be “off of them very soon,” head coach Frank Vogel said on Thursday (Twitter video link via Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic).

At the time of Lee’s procedure, the Suns didn’t offer any sort of timetable for his recovery process, simply stating that more updates would be provided “as appropriate.” Asked on Thursday if he had a sense of whether the 31-year-old might be able to return in December or January, Vogel still wasn’t able to share any specifics.

“This year hopefully though,” Vogel said, referring to the 2023/24 season (Twitter link via Rankin).

Here’s more on the Suns:

Star forward Kevin Durant has been listed as questionable for Friday’s game in Memphis due to right foot soreness, Rankin writes for The Arizona Republic. It sounds like a decision will be made on his availability closer to game time.
[UPDATE: Durant has been ruled out, per Rankin.]
Suns big man Drew Eubanks, who left Wednesday’s game due to a left ankle injury, has been ruled out for Friday, with the team designating the ailment as a sprain, tweets Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports. In addition to Lee and Bradley Beal (back), who are sidelined with longer-term injuries, the Suns will also still be without Yuta Watanabe, who will miss a fourth consecutive contest due to a quad contusion.
Phoenix is playing its final in-season tournament game on Friday vs. Memphis and remains in the hunt for the Western Conference’s wild card spot despite losing Group A to the Lakers, Rankin writes. A victory would result in a 3-1 record in group play, but it may need to be a blowout win to advance to the tournament quarterfinals, since they’d almost certainly need to win a point differential tiebreaker (Twitter link).

And-Ones: Self, 2024 FAs, G League, Harrison, More

November 9th, 2023 at 3:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Longtime University of Kansas head coach Bill Self has signed an amended lifetime contract with the school’s basketball program, according to a press release. The deal is worth approximately $53MM over the next five years, a source tells Jeff Goodman of The Messenger (Twitter link).

Self, who has never coached in the NBA, was mentioned a few years ago as a possible successor for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. However, he shot down those rumors on multiple occasions and said he had no intention of leaving the Jayhawks — this latest contract agreement confirms that’s still the case.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report looks ahead to 2024 NBA free agency, previewing the potential top stories and attempting to forecast landing spots for the best free agents in the class. Three Clippers stars – Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden – headline Pincus’ list.
The NBA G League announced this week that it has entered into a streaming partnership with Tubi, an ad-supported video-on-demand service. “NBA G League TV” will be the result of the union and will air more than 75 live NBAGL games on Fridays and Saturdays each season, starting tomorrow with the opening night of this year’s Showcase Cup.
After initially reporting that veteran NBA guard Shaquille Harrison was on track to finalize a contract with Olimpia Milano, Fabrizio Lorenzi of La Repubblica now says that talks between the two sides have stalled, as Sportando relays.
Following up on the report that the NBA is considering expanding its draft from one day to two days, Zach Harper of The Athletic offers his other suggestions for draft-related changes, including moving it to after free agency.
Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Pelicans wing Matt Ryan, and Suns center Drew Eubanks are among 10 players singled out by John Hollinger of The Athletic as names who are “emerging from obscurity” and making themselves worth watching in the early going this season.

Suns Lose 2024 Second-Round Pick Due To Free Agency Gun-Jumping

October 25th, 2023 at 2:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Suns violated league rules related to the timing of free agency discussions and have been forced to forfeit a 2024 second-round pick, the NBA announced today in a press release (Twitter link).

As we relayed earlier today, the league was investigating possible early contact with free agent Drew Eubanks, the former Portland center who signed a two-year, minimum-salary contract with Phoenix in July. According to today’s announcement, the league did find that the Suns engaged in discussions involving Eubanks before free agency began.

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.

The Suns issued the following statement (via Twitter) in response to the NBA’s ruling:

“We are disappointed with the results of the NBA investigation. If there was a violation, it was inadvertent. We are focused on complying with league rules and competing at the highest level every year. With that being said, we accept the penalty from the league and are focused on looking forward to this season.”

The Suns have traded away all of their own future second-round selections for the next seven years (picks in 2031 and beyond aren’t yet moveable), so they’ll surrender Denver’s 2024 second-rounder, which they acquired from Orlando in July.

Phoenix’s will receive San Antonio’s second-round pick in 2024 if it falls between Nos. 50-54. Otherwise, the club won’t have a second-rounder until 2026, when it will receive either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Magic’s pick (whichever is least favorable). The Suns have also traded away either their first-round pick or swap rights on their first-round pick for the next seven drafts.

This is the fourth consecutive year that at least one team has had a second-round selection rescinded for 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.

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.

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.”

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