Drew Eubanks

Kylan Iwamasa

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Player of the Week: Drew Eubanks | Portland Trail Blazers

Casey Holdahl

With the playoffs out of reach and with so many sitting out due to injury, those who are still suiting up for the Trail Blazers as they finish out their 2022-23 season have to find something to play for. Sure, they’re being paid relatively well and generally enjoy basketball -- few who don’t love the sport make it to the professional ranks -- so it’s not as if playing out the string is some kind of travail for anyone involved, but when wins become difficult to come by, it helps to have secondary motivations.

For players like Shaedon Sharpe and Jabari Walker, the last few weeks have been a chance to expand their respective skillsets by being allowed to play extended minutes and without the fear of being pulled due to mistakes. For a guy like Kevin Knox II, it’s about demonstrating that he still has a place in the NBA as he enters free agency for the first time. And for those called up from the G-League, it’s an opportunity to show that they deserve a shot at the NBA, whether that be as a player under a standard contract, a two-way contract or a summer league contract.

And then there’s Drew Eubanks. The 6-9 big has played in 248 games over the course of four seasons, so he’s already a known quantity who has shown himself to be, at worse, a serviceable backup center in the NBA. He’s 26, which isn’t old by any stretch, but he’s not getting his first taste of NBA basketball like many of his current teammates. And while he too is still trying to refine the best parts of his game and expand his skillset by applying the things he’s working on in practice during live NBA action, he’s already been doing both since signing with Portland last season.

So for Eubanks, the motivation is a bit different. The end of his second season in Portland hasn’t been so much about showing he can shoot threes -- he’s made as many in his last three games as he made in his first four seasons -- or make plays for others from the center position, but rather, expanding his bonafides as a leader.

“I was just trying to be confident, build my confidence, branching out a little bit from what I’m used to doing when Dame (Lillard), Ant (Simons) and Jerami (Grant) are on the court,” said Eubanks after posting 23 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and two assists in a 129-127 loss to the Spurs. “Show I can do a little bit more and just build my confidence. I’m trying to be a leader, trying to be vocal. It’s fun man, it’s really fun being one of, I think, the oldest guy with the most years out there and trying to help the young guys who haven’t been there before.”

For Eubanks, the last few weeks have helped him realize that it’s time to move on to the next phase of his career. It’s been five years since he left Oregon State after his junior year and after plying his craft primarily in the G-League his first two years, he’s now finishing up his third season as NBA rotation player. So with some years under his belt, Eubanks is trying to take on some of those leadership duties that would generally fall to the those who are done for the season.

“It really clicked the other day for me when we were playing Memphis,” said Eubanks. “I looked around, just started to count everybody’s years and I’m like “(Shoot), I got the most.” I’m old I guess. It’s just I’ve been around and I still kind of have that mindset of ‘I’m a young guy.’ Kind of need to break that and just find my voice. Everybody plays hard, they listen, they want to get better, so that makes it easy.”

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End Of Season Gives Eubanks A Chance To 'Find My Voice'

Drew highlights from a team-high 23-point performance.

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Drew Eubanks Highlights (23 points) | Portland Trail Blazers | Apr. 6, 2023

The top Drew Eubanks blocks of the season so far.

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Top Drew Eubanks BLOCKS from the first half of the season. | Portland Trail Blazers

Drew speaks to the media about the team's resilience when down.

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Drew Eubanks: "One thing we haven't done is not competed" | Portland Trail Blazers | Feb. 3, 2023

Drew Eubanks highlights as he puts on a dunk clinic.

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Drew Eubanks Highlights (10 points) | Portland Trail Blazers | Dec. 10, 2022

Drew shares his thoughts on the recent team struggles.

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Drew Eubanks: "We still have the pieces to do what we need to do" | Portland Trail Blazers | Nov. 30

Drew Eubanks highlights from a 13 point performance shooting 6-6 from the field.

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Drew Eubanks Highlights (13 points) | Trail Blazers vs Jazz | Nov. 19

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