I heard he should be injury free and able to play in 3 years.

Wow, if true, I didn't see this coming at all... I can only think that Sydney really didn't want him as I really couldn't see him leaving Sydney...

Curious to see how his injury has come along then...

Kazoo is soft as custard. It doesn't bother me where he goes as long as he doesn't come to Perth.

So Kings don't want Maric or Khazzouh, I'm really surprised by this

I'm really hoping that since the Kings had a team option on Truck, it's just all part of JvGs master plan and juggling the numbers... Aleks was super keen to come back to play for his home town team, enough to give the team the option instead of having a player one, in his limited minutes (< 18mpg) he actually did really well, especially as the season went on.

If the Kings are crazy enough to actually tell him that he's not wanted, I really have to question their sanity... Lock him in, even as a back up, he's quality value...

Well, unless you can finally get Bogut back to Australia and finally to suit up in the purple & gold lol...

That's the thing though, who is a better local option? And will you be able to get an import to fill that spot for similar money who will be as reliable?

Yeah, I really hope Maric comes back. He doesn't have any touch around the basket, but he works his butt off and brings some intangibles and size that no other NBL-level locals bring.

Kinda sucks that we never saw Khazzouh on the court again after the injury, but eh, it is what it is. All the best to him in Melbourne in any case, hopefully he gets his career back on track.

Maric would be on a starters wage.He's not value then coming off the bench!

Paves the way for a former NBA big man to join the Kings.

Maric's value can really only be determined if we know how much he is getting paid.

The guy is OK / serviceable.

He is not a great rim defender, nor does he have post moves (or the willingness / confidence to execute said moves). Decent rebounder, good for screens though.

Keep dreaming, he's from Melbourne.

Yeah, but totes unfinished business up here from the lockout period... Plus everyone knows that everyone looks better in purple!

Bogut is starting his own franchise called the Dandy Alt Rights. No safe spaces anywhere in the stadium.

Word is Kings are shopping Garlepp around as well.

How would they 'shop' him around given there is no trading?

Pay him out and move on.

But Sydney's problems extend way pass Garlepp.

I'm really skeptical about these "Khazzouh and Moller to United, Garlepp wants out" rumours. If somehow its true, unlikely as it is, it would be the players or their associates either panicking with their contract status or making noise trying to angle towards quick resolution.

Either way, JVG didn't sound too concerned. He has said he'll sort out the remaining local spots after signing the imports. That probably won't be finalized until end of July after the Summer Leagues.

Crivelli is in the same boat as well, so its a bit odd to hear that Khazzouh and Moller already signing with United this early. Crivelli would want to make sure he's got his budget under control to get Boone's signature. The Kings have no big men signed and targeting stud rebounders.

As for Bogut, unless he's changed his mind, AFAIK he's a Kings fan but probably not as tragic as Wookiee. Sorry mate :).

"How would they 'shop' him around given there is no trading?"
Club X wants him, Garlepp agrees to go, Sydney agree to release him. "Trade" done.

You are so deluded.

You're one of those that take things so seriously? Sigh...

Either way, JVG didn't sound too concerned. He has said he'll sort out the remaining local spots after signing the imports. That probably won't be finalized until end of July after the Summer Leagues.

Where did he say this? It's a concern that they cleared out their 5-men and aren't looking to fill those spots yet... Every season the Kings wait and wait and wait to finish off their team, and they suffer for it... They let imports start later than any other team, their chemistry never gels and the season just doesn't work out...

If nothing else, they should get some stability with Truck, then it's not so bad filling in the gaps around him... I don't care if he's on starts money, he's an ex-Boomer with extensive Euro experience, he should have gotten that his first season back... He didn't always perform for starts money, some of that was his fault, some of that was the coaches not using him properly...

Lisch/Cadee/Newls/Blanchfield has the majority of the backcourty spots, especially for locals, with space for an import PG to come, but the lack of bigs is really concerning... Not only that, but If the rumours do work out to be true of there being some player instability/jumping ship/letting go, that's a bigger problem... It seems that no matter who is in charge at the Kings, there's always something getting in their way...

As for Bogut, even my purple glasses aren't THAT strong lol... Although I'm just happy that you spelled Wookiee correctly ;)

You don't need a big with the shuffle. Sengstock will come out of retirement and rip up the league.

Why would MU be going after Kazzouh and Moller with Wesley Andersen and Majok still under contract?

Why would MU be going after Kazzouh and Moller with Wesley Andersen and Majok still under contract?

That's what I was thinking. Putting aside Wesley and Majok who are really PF's why would Khazzouh sign with United to come off the bench behind Andersen or would it be to start?

Andersen signed a two year deal and is rumoured to be the highest paid player in the league. Maybe the second year was a player option and United don't want him to pick it up so put out the Khazzouh news along with it to be announced in the next month to entice Andersen not to pick up his option?

The other reason I suggest this is after the season there was talk that MU had told Goulding & Andersen it didn't want them to play overseas during the offseason and then came the news that Andersen had agreed to sign with a team in Italy which was then backed out of pretty quickly but he's now playing in France.

I'm hearing Dane Pineau to Syd

This was mentioned on the sly a little while ago... Not familiar with him at all and doesn't really seem like super impressive college numbers? You'd think it would be either him or Moller for an 11th spot? Would prefer to stick with the local boy who played his butt off when called on last season...

Good point about Khazzouh playing with DA, Wesley and Majok, that sort of fills out their front court with no-one really with the skillset of Boone last season... Something to consider, I guess... Maybe that's why there's a delay on making the call?

It would be good to know officially if both player and team options have to be taken up before the start of the FA period or not... I'm assuming both would have to be, but that's just based on common sense and we all know that the NBL is sometimes allergic to that...

Who in that front court is going to play D? Majok.....thats it.

I'd assume its likely Boone is back so this signing makes 0 sense..

Where did he say this? It's a concern that they cleared out their 5-men and aren't looking to fill those spots yet

In the Cairns Post article by Jordan Gerrans talking about Damon Heuir's impending re-signing and Jeromie Hill possibly staying in Sydney. His exact words were "A lot of it will be determined with what happens with the Americans because that determines the back-up positions. It is very early in the off-season."

If you assume he's looking at 3 imports, Kings really only have 3 roster spots left for locals. I can understand his position why he doesn't feel that securing local bigs for that last 3 spots is of utmost importance.

He has the option of going for 3 import PF/C and filling those 3 local spots with whatever suitable talents available. Lisch, Newley and Blanchfield are still enough firepower to match most import backcourt. Folks here can still speculate to their hearts' content who will join or leave.

Right now, still plenty of capable free agents out there that can fill certain roles if Khazzouh and/or Moller actually did a runner. Tom Wilson, Nate Tomlinson, maybe even Dave Barlow with their connections to Tigers/Gaze could each get a look-in. If you factor in Jeromie Hill staying, those 3 local spots could get filled up pretty quickly.

With the exception of Rotnei for the Hawks, none of the import slots in each team has been filled yet. Re-signing of locals have been pretty slow with the emphasis on waiting on what imports each team could get. The GMs are slightly worried about the quality of imports they could sign for the coming season.

The new NBA collective bargaining agreement will take each NBA team roster from 15 to 17 players, that equates to 60 less potential imports available on the market. So after Euro and other wealthier leagues nab their imports, we may have a weaker pool of imports available. Hence all the waiting games at the moment with free agency in the NBL.

On the subject of Dane Pineau, probably a 4 in the NBL. Nothing spectacular, a bit gangly in build but tough. If he focuses on defense, closest comparison I could came up with would be Tim Morrissey. Copeland will love that heh. The memories...

With the exception of Rotnei for the Hawks, none of the import slots in each team has been filled yet.

Pretty sure Torrey Craig is too with the Bullets.

Oh yeah that bloke that got the DPOTY... derrrr my bad :).

Nobody has mentioned Aron Baynes.

Given that he's in a hole at Detroit in terms of game time and performance, now would be a good time for him to come back to the NBL, and I'd put money on Sydney getting him.

It's certainly more appropriate for Baynes to return than Bogut - at least Bogut still has NBA teams chasing him.

@hoopie i believe he still has a few years left on his $20M contract he is not leaving the NBA anytime soon lol

Aron Baynes has a player option with Detroit next season for $6.5 million which he's said to be opting out of for a larger contract.

I don't think we'll be seeing him in the NBL anytime soon.

Sorry if off topic a bit here but was last thread with rumours about Garlepp.

Just heard that Hobart Chargers were trying to crowdfund to pay for his 1 grand/game fee to play out the SEABL season there. Wow talk about making superstar money in tier 2 comp!

The other rumour was he wants to live in Hobart after his Kings contract ends? Has this got to do with raising up his baby? Any truth to this, anyone knows?