Jazz Slammed for 'Puzzling' Signing of Former Suns Center

The Utah Jazz should not have signed Drew Eubanks, according to Bleacher Report.

Feb 10, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; Phoenix Suns center Drew Eubanks (14) dunks in front of Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney (5) and guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first half at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

PHOENIX -- Most Phoenix Suns followers weren't massive fans of former backup center Drew Eubanks.

So when news hit that he would be declining his player option in the desert and searching for a new beginning, a collective sigh of relief was felt across the Valley.

Eubanks inked a two-year, $10 million deal with the Utah Jazz in free agency, which wasn't exactly met with high praise from places such as Bleacher Report, who called the signing "puzzling" for a few reasons:

"The 27-year-old center has never played on anything but minimum contracts in his career to this point and wasn't particularly good for the Phoenix Suns last season. The Jazz already have Walker Kessler and John Collins at center and selected Duke big man Kyle Filipowski with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft, too," wrote B/R.

"Bringing in Eubanks as a veteran insurance option near the end of free agency on a min deal would have been fine, but there's no reason why Utah should have given him a chunk of its cap space now. Even if the Jazz weren't going to be big spenders in free agency, they could have been a dumping ground for teams looking to offload money and draft picks.

"This was a puzzling and unnecessary move by Utah."

The move was graded as a D.

Eubanks failed to impress during his tenure in the Valley, though he did previously tell The Arizona Republic's Duane Rankin he and the team had mutual interest in a reunion before eventually declining the option.

Phoenix signed Mason Plumlee as a secondary option behind Jusuf Nurkic and also drafted center Oso Ighodaro in the second round.