The case for why the San Antonio Spurs signed Drew Eubanks

After being on a two-way deal for two years, Drew Eubanks has earned himself a full contract with the San Antonio Spurs.

No one can say that Drew Eubanks did not work hard for his first full NBA contract. He spent three years in college before going undrafted in 2018. He then signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs, spending two years in their system before finally getting a three-year minimum deal per Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN.

The deal is worth $5.3 million over the three years. Only the 2020-21 season is fully guaranteed at $1.6 million. The 2021-22 season is partially guaranteed at $0.5 million, becoming fully guaranteed for the value of $1.76 million 14 days after the 2021 moratorium.

The 2022-23 season is not guaranteed until 14 days after the 2022 moratorium, where he will make $1.9 million. If Eubanks works as hard over the next two seasons on improving his game, the Spurs will have a good rotation player at the league minimum.

Where Drew Eubanks has improved for the San Antonio Spurs

Eubanks played 23 games in his first season for the Spurs, he averaged 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 4.9 minutes per game. In the G-League he averaged 16.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 1.3 assists in 25.0 minutes per game.

In his second season, Eubanks played 22 games, increasing his averages to 4.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, and 0.7 assists in 12.4 minutes per game. In the G-League he averaged 15.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 1.2 assists, and 0.8 steals in 23.4 minutes per game.

As shown by the numbers above, Eubanks rounded out his game, not just in scoring but also in his defensive numbers. His rim protection from his rookie G League season translated into the NBA with 0.8 blocks per game.

The fact that Eubanks developed the way that he did is important. The Spurs stars are getting older. Incumbent big man LaMarcus Aldridge is going to be 35 during the season and is in the last season of his deal with the Spurs.

Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, and DeMar DeRozan are all over 30 and in the final years of their current deals. This means that the balance of power is changing in San Antonio to the younger brigade and Eubanks is only 22 years old.

While he is still raw, he will grow over the next season. He will be the third-string big man behind Aldridge and Jakob Poeltl but this could change as the season goes on. It is going to be important for Eubanks to show this development given the structure of his contract.

Eubanks needs to develop a niche on the Spurs roster which makes the coaching staff have to play him. Last season the Spurs were 27th in the league for offensive rebounds. If Eubanks can focus on this area to help the second unit, he is going to get even more court time.

Currently, the best offensive rebounder on the squad is Poeltl who has just signed a three-year deal. Eubanks is not going to displace him out of the lineup so needs to take his opportunities every time that he hits the floor.

Defensively he needs to anchor the second unit and try to average over 1.0 blocks per game. The Spurs were in the bottom third of the NBA last season in a number of defensive categories including opponent field goal percentage. If he can make it harder to score in the paint then this will help the team.