@Lachy_Reid ·
Casey Prather will play for @MelbUnitedHQ ... that will hurts @PerthWildcats fans @nbl #donedeal

Wow! Lachy was spot on with Cotton last time so won't doubt his source. Happy we get to see him stay in the NBL but the shitestorm from the Red army...

He'll be a popular guy walking in to the Perth Arena this season if it's true!

Wow, if the Wildcats couldn't afford him, Melbourne must have paid a nice sum for Prather.

Can't fault him, if its not the NBA he has to make what he can.

All the best to Casey.

^Jamie O'Loughlin left on his own terms

From memory the Wilcats fans were feral against Lisch when he came back in Hawks colours.

I would hope the Red Army stay classy and understand PRather gave them 2 good years and they should be glad for that. Just as they can release players, players can also choose where to play right?

Seems logical replacing cheap import Lasan Kromah!

If MU sign Randle to replace Ware MU are going to have a lot of hate directed at them this season.

Why would we be nice to him? He plays for another team now and anything to put an opposition off their game to help the wildcats win is the home court advantage every team would want!

Sorry I meant "From memory the Wilcats fans WEREN'T feral against Lisch when he came back in Hawks colours"

Cats fans were not, have not been feral to Lisch.

Prather should get the same treatment.

All the money seems to have gone to Cotton.

I'd hope that we still would have made a sizeable offer to Casey. Cotton was the icing but Prather was still a big part of the cake IMO.
Melbourne got themselves a good one.
I'm kind of torn on this one. Love what he does and glad he is still in the NBL, but obviously ... :/

All supporters will try and get under the oppositions skin, the red army will always appreciate what he's done for the club but he now plays for Melbourne. It's all part of the game and I'm sure as a professional Casey will understand that. It has nothing to do with "class" it's about helping your team win.

From what I've observed from reactions when they show West Coast and Freo players on the big screen, the majority of the fans in Perth Arena are Eagles fans.

He is going to get the absolute cover booed off him when he comes back...

Wow, pretty shocked by this, thought he definitely wouldn't be back in the NBL with another club. As a Wildcats fan it hurts, but as an NBL fan its great seeing high quality players stay in the league. He will be a scary addition to Melbourne.

I think he'll cop it from the fans a bit, but at the same time will be respected. From memory Jawai, Jervis and Beal got good/respectful receptions and acknowledgement from Perth at the start of their return games, before then being treated no differently from any other opposition players.

I wonder what the difference in $$ for the contract offers was?

Can anyone remind me of the United roster?

?/Adnam
Goulding/Hooley
Prather/Moller/Barlow
Andersen/Wesley
Majok/Boone

Is Tomlinson still around?

Nope tomlinson out unless they don't sign a 3rd import(unlikely) there are only 11 roster spots available to each team.

I'm hoping he gets a huge cheer the first time he is announced at Perth Arena - so he knows we appreciate what he brought us - and then after that, booed loudly just like any other player who ever pulled a CJ on us! :p

The $$ difference and situation interests me most.

Cats offer Prather X.

Prather says he wants to look elsewhere, and if he were return would want X + Y.

Wildcats say they can't afford X + Y, and say they need to recruit others and can't wait.

Wildcats sign Cotton and two new imports.

Prather can't/doesn't want a gig elsewhere.

Melbourne approach Prather.

Deal done.

Hardly a scary team when Prather and Goulding are riddled with injuries...

Don't forget Andersen's age and the fact he is coming off a knee injury. Oh and Wesley is soft as butter

"Can they afford Ware? " HAHAHAH

Everybody was shitting themselves when they announced that Jackson/Goulding/Anderson combo last year until it became apparent that they'd assembled a roster riddled with injury and that couldn't play together. Let's see what vickerman can do with this collection of expensive trophy signings before we hand United the trophy.

And yes, Wesley is a soft, cack-handed little whiner.

They are favourites for the championship ahead of $4.50 Perth at $4. Assuming they get an import PG, that might be worth a bet given the presumed coaching upgrade.

Cats to retain Cotton would have had to offer 350,000 at the least. Breaking the bank, they could not afford Prather after that. It was either Prather or Cotton. Cotton brought a lot more to the team than Prather, so his signing made more sense in the long run, every team needs a proven point guard.

Melbourne would be blowing the soft cap by about 1 million! Especially with more imports to come! Prather would have to be on at least 350,000 as well you would think?

Anderson? 300,000?
Goulding? 250,000?

Prather makes Melbourne so much more dangerous.

Basically taking out the passive Todd Blanchfield and inserting the MVP runner up. If Ware comes back, that will be 4 starters that you cannot leave open plus Prather's ability to drive with the floor spread.

Melbourne deserve to be the favourites even though they are always up there because of 'on paper' analysis at pre-season.

Prather is quality as is Vickerman. Look out league.

Melbourne deserve to be the favorites? The owners are desperate to buy a championship!! They looked the best on paper last year and look how that turned out!? Not the faves by a long shot! No one is in this league.

Pennywise,

Goulding is on $400k and talk was Andersen got $500k-$600k per to lure him back from Europe. Both players are entering the second and final year of their deals.

Randle wanted 600,000...yeah no, you're not getting him. Also mentioned he would never play for anyone but Adelaide. He rejected offers from United to begin with. If they signed Randle not only would it be the biggest abuse ever of a soft cap, it would cause havoc and divide the league. Owners would be crying favoritism.

Randle wanted 600,000...yeah no, you're not getting him.

I think you guys need to settle on the idea the point guard will be a big signing. It's likely to be a solid D-league player or Europe player around the Level of Travis Trice.

Let's just say their roster looks like this...

Adnam 70,000
Prather 350,000
Anderson 500,000
Goulding 400,000
Majok 100,000
Hooley 65,000
Moller 65,000
Barlow 100,000
Boone 150,000
Wesley 100,000

At least 1.9 million spent already...

United has perennially underachieved, I'm not sure how it will turn out this season. Can all the talent and big names gel together? Vickerman is more respectable than DD but there are some questions about last season drama with the Kings.

One thing is for sure every season, can't underestimate them and I think that goes for almost every team in this compact league we have. Last season was intense and this one is building up like a crescendo.

A weak bench will hurt. As soon as they play the bench mob teams will take advantage.

They better hope their starters can keep the team up. Perth and Adelaide have pretty deep benches...

IMO Moller is on more than that if Sydney "couldn't afford" to keep him.

Moller probably came to Melbourne to get more playing time, not so much now.

Great to see all the try-hards laughing at Perth already. I seem to remember them laughing before the start of last season -- and the season before -- and the season etc. Start laughing when and if you ever win one.

If you had to choose between Cotton and prather you take Cotton. If Torrey Craig got ano nba 2way contract and I was prather I would be pissed. Guy deserves his shot at the big time,

I expect Moller is floating somewhere closer to 100k.

You reckon? I think he would be stoked to get paid anything more than the minimum guaranteed for the next 3 years, after all he was only a DP at the Kings.

I'm only guessing, but the one reason he isn't still in Sydney is because Melbourne out-bid them and they "couldn't afford" to match.

Landing Blanchfield might've played a part in letting Moller walk.

Has Barlow really dropped off by that much? I remember him being up there with Newley and Ingles at one point?

If you had to choose between Cotton and prather you take Cotton. If Torrey Craig got ano nba 2way contract and I was prather I would be pissed. Guy deserves his shot at the big time,

There's no doubting that if Perth didn't sign Cotton last season, they don't make the playoffs, let alone win the championship, so can't fault them for putting all their $$$ in his basket...

I wouldn't be surprised about the indecisive reasoning behind Moller leaving to the Unitards... Kings were very vocal about wanting to get imports first and then fit people in around that, and they weren't going to fill import spots until closer to Summer League time, so I can't blame Craig for locking in a more reliable deal when the Kings were dicking him around... I don't think he's anywhere near the minimum, but more mid-range, of course that is a completely uneducated guess...

Perth are notoriously tight with teh purse strings, but you'd think they would have stretched all they could with Prather so he'd at least have to be on at least $300K? Other than Adnams value being inflated, if I had to put numbers to others, Pennywise's would seem fairly close... If they manage to snag a Ware or Randle, and I know the grain of salt with which this needs to be taken as a Kings fan especially will be huge, but that would be a giant mockery of the soft cap, and I would take much joy in seeing them implode again...

Agreed. Cotton was an unstoppable scorer but I think Prather's return to fitness at the tail end of the season was the biggest factor in the Cats finding form and sweeping the playoffs.

I don't mean to understate Prathers value, he was a key piece. I guess i feel it is harder to get cottons skillset than Prathers. Prather's playmaking improved heaps over his two years, however with cottons playmaking that skill was less required. Cotton at the 2 provides more offence creation than jj who couldnt dribble and was a three and even i'm going to dribble into a double team beal (loved Dolla though).

Walker should be a legitimate 3pt threat, it will be interesting to see if this opens up Perths offence. It seems every time they decide to go more upbeat they still end up grinding. He could potentially replace Prathers numbers on offence, hopefully he can play defence though because there is no real shotblocker this year waiting in the paint.

I think the Sixers have upgraded on last season's imports overall and with the expected improvement of the Aussie core unless MU land a star PG we probably deserve to be up there as favourites.

Melbourne United have Casey Prather, Casper Ware high on recruitment list, but neither are signed

I'm only speculating, but I get the vibe that top European teams don't just throw huge bucks at guys like Prather right off the bat. They probably would expect him to prove himself first, so the potential salary difference compared to what he's getting offered here might not be that big. Once you factor in the lifestyle factors as well, Europe might not be such an obvious choice.

(Having said that - and I mean no disrespect to Torrey Craig by this - but given he got an NBA opportunity I think Prather would rightly have expected one as well, and yeah that is clearly his preferred destination. As it should be)