As an Adelaide 36ers member, I nearly shit my pants when I saw this headline

Another great advertisement for the NBL. Sad to lose him but I would hope the benefits outweigh the negatives. With Ennis and now Wilbekin this would say a lot to guys with NBA aspirations who weigh up between playing the D-League for small money or getting a good wage in a high standard league in a safe country.

WTF? 4 yrs?

Why not give him a year & see how he goes?

Mind u he's a much better player than Delly!

Yes why 4 years? Same can be said of Adelaide signing Teys and Soby for three years. Crazy stuff.

That's an awesome effort considering he didnt play for Kentucky.

Seriously though, good on him, came out here, started on fire, got worked out a bit and continued to improve his game and had a big impact late in the season. Cedric Jackson must just be shaking his head though, what's that man got to do!

"Wilbekin committed to a deal with the 76ers on Friday night, opting out of his deal with Cairns Taipans of Australia's National Basketball League."

As others have noted, great advertisement for the league in that he was actually contracted to play for the upcoming season. Whilst the NBL season is not yet underway, it some ways it is a "call up" from the NBL, further legitimising the league as a D-League alternative.

There must be more NBA people generally keeping an eye on the NBL too? I doubt he gets signed to a partially guaranteed 4-year deal on the back of a couple of weeks of Summer League play alone. Obviously he is high profile from his college career, but someone must also have been tracking his play in Cairns and in Greece.

Regarding my post above, just realised that the Sixers are the team with the rights to Jordan McRae too, so I guess it would make sense that they might've had a closer eye on the NBL over the past season...

Have the 76ers done anything this off season to look like they might climb the ladder at all?

I'm not saying Wilbekin is a bad signing as i reckon he can flat out play, but look at Spurs, Clips, Cavs etc. Philly look 10 yrs away from the playoffs!

First year is a partial guarantee. So they can cut him before a defined date.
The sixers have been dishing out these contracts and had the nba look at the ethics behind it. I read somewhere they weren't happy but is fine.
Brett Brown is the coach, he would keep an eye on the nbl for sure. He probably set up Jordan mcrae with united.
I'm not sure if is a great look. I prefer to see imports stick around, not a nba 2nd rounder getting some game time to "try" and star. You end up with summer league ball hogs. Jordan Mccrae got one and Daniels at times playing for himself.
Just my opinion.

@scopes44: Targeting "one and done" NBA hopefuls to fill NBL positions is hit or miss, but that's no different to import recruiting generally, is it?

I'm sure the Wildcats and Taipans would speak positively about the Ennis and Wilbekin experiences, but then you have the examples of maybe Daniels and McRae who didn't meet expectations.

Ryan Boatright, TJ McConnell, Quinn Cook and Keifer Sykes would be good replacements. Sykes to a lesser extent though, something about him screams Jahii Carson.

TJ didn't get a deal. It was 3 man race for 2 spots and PJ and Wilbekin won.

When do the training camp cuts get announced? Do the Taipans have enough time to wait and see whether Wilbekin survives before deciding on a replacement or will that be too late?

Training camp isn't usually until the last week of September or early October so I think that would be too late.

Congrats to Scottie. Another nice line on the NBL's NBA resume too.

@A.Bitoni Fan. Absolutely right. Is hit and miss. I am a long time wildcats fan and its been 50/50 since Marvins recruiting of seconder rounder stow aways.

I loved how the crawfords, graces, fishers, McDonalds, maleys, copelands...imports that stayed and had great careers. I'm too old fashioned. Lol

I like long term marketable imports.
Anyway, good to see some players get the call up. Good luck to cairns for finding a replacement.

@Paul: I don't see how Ced Jackson could be effective in the NBA. PGs who can't shoot from deep just hurt their team way too much at the NBA level in this day and age, unless they are truly elite at getting to the rim.

I agree Mick, they would just sag way off and clog the lane with elite shot blockers who would destroy him 9/10 times and then his free throw shooting is below par.

His handles and passing ability are most definitely NBA level.

good for everyone else and the NBL, man, that is tough for cairns, that'll hurt

moves them from almost certain top 4 to who knows

HAHAHAH they were a certain wooden spoon last year according to the experts. They are in a stronger psosition now with worthington upgrading young and 2 inexperienced guards heading off for new opportunities (sobey will be solid but not game breaker - his size at an nbl level concerns me. Maynard - another kevin white). Another hungry pg wanting wilbekins success and either Torrey or another athletic 3 with a point to prove coming in with the local line up: its looking good for the Snakes. Anything to the contrary is piss and vinegar from keyboard warriors....again.

Considering Wilbekin was a back up selection last season, I think Taipans fans can feel confident that Fearny will do ok... With such a stacked front line though, it will be interesting to see how they go...