Out of all the players to lose a draft pick over, Drew Eubanks is not at the top of the list. Even so, this Wednesday, the Suns had to pay the price after being found guilty of tampering for Drew Eubanks. In a statement released by the NBA, Phoenix will lose one second-round pick over early negotiations with the former Trail Blazers big man.
“The NBA announced today that the Phoenix Suns violated league rules governing the timing of this season’s free agency discussions and that the league has rescinded the 2024 second-round draft pick. This outcome reflected a finding that Phoenix engaged in free agency discussions involving Drew Eubanks prior to the date when such discussions were permitted.”
Now official: Suns lose a 2024 second-round pick … https://t.co/Svo5nod9WN pic.twitter.com/P8Ncmbj0b0
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) October 25, 2023
The Suns officially signed Drew on July 4th to a 2-year, $5 million contract. He was just one of several offseason moves for Phoenix and far from the most important. In fact, for a roster that already had Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, Eubanks was really more of an afterthought in this summer’s long list of signings. Nevertheless, it’s one signing that they’ll have to pay a little extra for.
NBA Fans Can’t Believe The Suns’ Mistake
It’s no secret that the NBA has pretty strict rules for tampering, and usually teams will only risk it for the sake of potentially signing a big-name, high-impact player. Obviously, Eubanks isn’t quite on that level as a backup center and some are struggling to understand why the Suns would break the NBA rules to sign him.
Tampering for Drew Eubanks pic.twitter.com/CsmNiNnh5I
— 🛰️ (@KT_3410) October 25, 2023
Drew averaged just 6.6 points per game in Portland last season and he scored 4 points in 19 minutes last night during his Suns’ debut. While he is expected to be a regular part of the rotation, Eubanks is probably not worth giving up a second-round pick over, especially for a team like the Suns, who already barely have any picks left to spare.
tampering for jalen brunson was unferstandable
DREW EUBANKS?? suns were desperate for role players
— снase (@chxsedown) October 25, 2023
Of course, as some have pointed out, it was the Suns’ own desperation for role players that led them to break the rules. In pursuit of top-end talent, the Suns ran out of money to fill out the roster and had to get creative in order to find enough role-players to bring off the bench.
The Suns Are In Win-Now Mode
As the new owner of the Suns, Mat Ishbia has pulled all the stops to ensure success right away. In the first few days after his arrival, he finalized the trade for Kevin Durant, which changed the entire timeline of the franchise. In the following months, Ishbia has only doubled down on that deal by trading in all his assets to build the best team possible. With Booker, Durant, Bradley Beal, and Jusuf Nurkic, among others, Phoenix has a roster that looks good on paper, and their win over the Warriors on opening night is further evidence of their trajectory.
The question is, however, do they have enough supporting talent to keep up with the likes of Denver, Los Angeles, and Sacramento? That much remains to be seen, but thanks to guys like Drew Eubanks, Josh Okogie, and Grayson Allen, they might just have enough help to keep their core stars fresh throughout the season. Either way, the clock is ticking for this Suns team and they need to achieve results as soon as possible for Ishbia’s gambles this past summer to not go down in vain.
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