The New York Knicks have had a clear hole to address this offseason after losing both Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti to the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. The pair of centers departing for the pair of New York’s Atlantic division rivals left the reigning champions with just one center on their roster.
The Knicks signed Andre Drummond, replacing their backup with Philadelphia’s second-stringer from last season. When Nick Richards — the last center left on the market expected to draw a fully-guaranteed contract — signed with the Miami Heat, it became clear that the Knicks would be deciding the recipient of their final roster spot with a training camp battle.
Over two months into free agency, there are more players looking for guaranteed roster spots than realistic destinations. The lack of demand will eventually force players to accept non-guaranteed contracts. And SNY’s report that Drew Eubanks is on the Knicks’ radar is fans’ first idea in a year of the kind of free agent that’ll be willing to take an audition.
Eubanks and Drummond would represent Knicks’ 2nd apron decision
Any big man who gets a training camp invite from the Knicks will effectively be looking to win Hukporti’s job from last season. If New York is counting on Drummond being more available than Robinson, who sat regular season back-to-backs, they may end up relying on their new third-string center less often.
Either way, Towns has spent the last three consecutive seasons atop the NBA’s offensive foul leaderboard. The Knicks already know the path to helping him end that trend, and Drummond could wind up being an excellent pivot from Robinson, but the team’s All-NBA big man simply needs more support.
Eubanks played in 42 games for the Sacramento Kings last season. Hukporti played in 54 for the Knicks.
The two were worlds apart with regard to their defensive metrics, though. Eubanks’ -1.3 defensive estimated plus-minus graded out in the NBA’s 11th percentile, overall. Hukporti was playing in the exact opposite kind of basketball environment, an ironic twist given Sacramento’s ouster of Mike Brown. He graded out in the league’s 98th percentile of defenders, according to Dunks & Threes.
The stat, like every other defensive statistic, can be finicky and unreliable. Centers, however, are the one group of players that wind up with the most accurate readings because of the schematic extent of their impact on that end of the court.
Eubanks’ best defensive season, by the same metric, was in the 2023–24 campaign. He played in 75 games for the Phoenix Suns, recording a D-EPM of 0.0. That fell in the league’s 60th percentile.
The Knicks aren't looking for the next Willis Reed here in the non-guaranteed free agent center market. They do, however, need someone who can at least begin the season as a contributor to their title defense.
Eubanks is just the first name to surface with regard to potential participants in a training camp battle. More will certainly come in the next couple of weeks.
Add us as a preferred source on Google