Category: Basketball

Veteran big man Drew Eubanks thriving in thankless Kings backup center role originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SACRAMENTO – Backup center is one of the most thankless jobs in the NBA. Playing time comes in small, generally anonymous bursts while any stats of significance are as rare as a four-leaf clover.

Drew Eubanks is changing that narrative to a certain extent in his first season with the Kings this season.

The season isn’t even a month old and the 28-year-old journeyman has found a way to make his presence felt. He hasn’t done anything spectacular, per se, but Eubanks already has provided far more than Kings brass could have hoped for when they signed him to a one-year contract in July.

Through Sacramento’s first 13 games, Eubanks was putting up decent numbers that were amplified when starting center Domantas Sabonis was dealing with hamstring and rib injuries.

Sabonis has returned to the lineup and played well but fouled out of Tuesday’s game against the Denver Nuggets, which opened the door for Eubanks to really prove his worth.

And he did exactly that while going up against three-time MVP and seven-time All-Star Nikola Jokić.

Jokić did what Jokić always does, no matter the opponent, but what stood out for the Kings was how well Eubanks did against the Joker when the two were matched up.

The Sacramento backup had 19 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes. Sabonis, by comparison, also scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 25 minutes.

“Drew was really good,” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “He’s playing against a monster (Jokić), first of all, but he gave some good minutes. He did some good things.

“In that backup role, we need him to be aggressive, be physical, rebound, (be) up to the level on pick-and-rolls, impact the basketball when he sets screens, roll extremely hard and use your athleticism, sprint the floor, flatten it out. He can do all that. When he has his regular minutes, that is totally something that he can do to take advantage of the opposition.”

Eubanks got the extra playing time against Denver because Sabonis was in foul trouble for most of the night before eventually fouling out.

Even before that, though, the Kings have found ways to keep Eubanks involved.

His average playing time of 15.8 minutes in Sacramento’s first 13 games was more than double the court time he got in 24 games with the Los Angeles Clippers last season.

Eubanks also is shooting at a higher clip than he has since 2022-23. While rebounds and assists are down from his career average, Eubanks is blocking shots at a clip of 1.2 per game, the second-best mark he’s had in the NBA.

“Drew’s a pro,” Zach LaVine said. “Come off the bench, start him, throw him in late … he’s going to figure it out. His energy and just him day to day, his charisma helps us out.”

The Kings actually began benefiting from Eubanks in the offseason.

During training camp he and Sabonis would engage in 1-on-1 battles or oppose each other in full squad scrimmages.

“He had a great training camp, huge training camp,” Sabonis said. “He looked amazing and it’s showing right now in the games. I’ve been hurt a couple games and (against the Nuggets) I fouled out. He stepped up big time.”

Asked how the training camp battles between the two centers went, Sabonis smiled.

“He was kicking my butt. He was really good. I was impressed.”

Download and follow The Deuce & Mo Podcast

OG Anunoby has never been an All-Star in his nine-year NBA career.

That will likely change this season if the Knicks wing keeps playing like he has through his first nine games, especially if head coach Mike Brown has a say.

But that's not all the recognition he believes Anunoby deserves.

"OG is an All-Star, in my opinion," Brown said after Tuesday's 133-120 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. "Not only is he an All-Star, he's an all-defensive performer. In my opinion, he should have an opportunity, amongst others in our group, to fight for Defensive Player of the Year in the league.

Brown continued, saying the 28-year-old is reaching new heights as a "playmaker" while still adjusting to a different style of offense.

"He's worked his tail off in the summertime, first of all. And then secondly, he's just getting comfortable with what we're trying to do. He knows where guys should be on the floor when he drives. He's making quick decisions with the basketball. When he feels a second defender step up, again based off of what we're trying to do offensively, he knows what spot should be filled. Anybody can make those passes almost blindly because he knows he's done his job and somebody should be there.

"He's just embracing what we're trying to do offensively with his talent, his size, his athleticism, his IQ. It's just showing that he can still go to another level as a playmaker."

In his first season under Brown, Anunoby is averaging career-highs in points (18.2), rebounds (6.2), and steals (2.2) per game. 

He's also shooting a career-high 43.8 percent from three and making a career-high 3.1 three-pointers per game. His true shooting percentage is a best 62.5 percent, while his usage rate is also a high of 21.1.

Defensively, Anunoby currently ranks fifth in the league in defensive win shares at 0.187, trailing only Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr., OKC's Ajay Mitchell and Chet Holmgren, and San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama. While it may be difficult to steal the DPOY from Wemby, Anunoby could find himself on an All-Defensive team.

Previously, Anunoby finished seventh in DPOY voting in the 2022-23 season after leading the league in steals (1.9) and earned All-Defensive Second Team honors that year. 

What Anunoby has done so far this season is impressive, and, like Brown believes, his efforts should earn him a spot at the 2026 NBA All-Star Game in Inglewood, CA  and other accolades at the end of the year.

Mike Brown on OG Anunoby:

"OG is an All-Star, in my opinion. Not only is he an All-Star, he's an all-defensive performer. In my opinion he should have an opportunity amongst others in our group to fight for Defensive Player of the Year in the league" pic.twitter.com/RPeGgSszsv

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 12, 2025

The Knicks continued their dominance at home on Tuesday night, defeating the Grizzlies 133-120, pushing their winning streak to five games and starting the season 7-0 at MSG.

New York showed a lot of what has made them dangerous in the early going. They throttled the Grizzlies' defense for 78 first-half points and forced 11 Memphis turnovers. If you saw the final score, you'd think it was a much closer game, and the Knicks would tell you that it shouldn't have been.

Despite their offensive outburst in the first half, the Grizzlies outplayed them in the second, outscoring the Knicks 66-56. And first-year head coach Mike Brown brought up his team's defensive lapses in his opening statement after Tuesday's win.

"The first half, we did a really good job in a lot of areas...and our transition defense in the first half wasn't great but it was ok against a team like that," Brown said. "According to our measurements, they had 16 fastbreak points against us in the first half. The second half, we let up. We didn't sprint back like we should have...we did not play our rules and they got layup after layup after layup against us in transition, which gave them confidence...29 fastbreak points to a team in a half is going to kill ya. Especially when you have 11 turnovers in that half. We were careless with the ball as well...Hopefully, we'll grow from this and try to put 48 minutes in our next game because those two areas we did not do a good job of."

The Knicks will hope to put together that full 48-minute performance on the second of their back-to-back on Wednesday against the Magic, but they wasted an opportunity for extra rest because they allowed the Grizzlies to stick around. One positive is that New York is expected to have center Mitchell Robinson in the lineup after he sat out Tuesday due to injury management. Brown was asked about the defense and Robinson's role in it, but the coach didn't want that to be an excuse.

"It wasn't about Mitch; they killed us in transition," he said. "Give them credit because they kept fighting, but we could have had anybody on the floor, it would have been bad. We didn't do a good job getting back, we didn't do a good job following our rules while getting back."

While the Knicks let Memphis hang around in the second half, the offensive performance they put on allowed them to hold on. The team scored 130-plus points in their third straight game, which is the first time that's been done in franchise history. 

Jalen Brunson was awesome, scoring 32 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing 10 assists. He is now tied for third in franchise history with Stephon Marbury and Ray Williams for the most 30/10/5 performances as a Knick (five). 

But even the captain wasn't pleased with how his team finished Tuesday's game.

"Yeah, we're clicking (on offense), most importantly, we've got to finish games better," Brunson said. "Whatever's happening on offense, there's going to be times when we're not making shots and stuff. But we got to better defensively no matter what. It has to be our focus moving forward."

Brunson says the lapses are a product of late communication or simply a lack of communication, but was encouraged by the team's offensive production, especially in the first half.

"Ball's moving, playing off each other, playing ball," Brunson said. "When the ball is going in like that, it's great to see."

The Knicks shot 55 percent (39.3 percent from three) with 19 assists in the first two quarters. That's a product of Brown's offensive system that has ramped up the team's output.

Following New York's win over the Nets on Sunday, the team was the No. 2-ranked offense and had the league lead in made three-pointers per 100 possessions. 

They will look to keep it going on Wednesday against the Magic, where they'll look to go a perfect 8-0 at home this season.