According to ESPN authoritative reporter Adrian Wojnarowski, the Utah Jazz have reached an agreement with backup center Drew Eubanks, who previously played for the Phoenix Suns. Eubanks will receive a two-year, $10 million contract from the Jazz. While the details of the contract have not been disclosed, given Eubanks' ability and his performances last season, the contract is already a clear premium, and if nothing else, the second year of the contract should be a team option.
In the NBA regular season this season, Eubanks played a total of 75 games for the team, averaging 15.6 minutes per game, averaging 5.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, shooting 60.1% from the field, 100% from three-point range, and 77.4% from the free throw line. In the playoffs, Eubanks played a total of 3 games for the team, averaging 12.5 minutes per game, averaging 5.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks per game, shooting 58.3% from the field and 100% from the free throw line.
Eubanks have been arguably poor this season, unable to provide enough support to the team on both ends of the floor. Although his efficiency under the basket on the offensive end is not bad, he can be said to be completely free from the team's system, in addition to being able to carry out strong offense under the basket, he does not have any support and help for the team's offense, but drags down the team's offensive space. On the defensive end, Eubanks is also constrained by his slow footwork, movement speed and poor athleticism, and is often a key target for opponents. The Suns' poor performance in the playoffs, being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves, also had some connection to Eubanks' performance.
It is also for this reason that everyone was a little surprised when Eubanks chose to jump out of the player option on next season's contract. After all, with Eubanks' performance this season, I believe that the vast majority of fans do not think that he will get a contract that exceeds the base salary, and in this case, it seems a somewhat incomprehensible thing to choose to jump out of the contract instead of staying with the Suns for another year. I didn't expect Eubanks' market to be so good, which is indeed far beyond everyone's expectations. It's incredible that Eubanks will be paid as much as Andre Drummond next season. It's also true that we don't know why the Jazz would give such a contract to the underperforming Eubanks, and they are really sure that Eubanks will be able to farm a good hand of numbers for the Jazz and sell it for a good price in the coming year.