Illawarra getting it done. This season should be entertaining for so many reasons.

This could be huge for the Hawks in terms of turning around their bleeding crowds.

Last year people turned up in their droves to watch their team play against Bogut, that effect will wear down, hopefully we see the same boost from the Ball signing.

A couple things.
From a marketing standpoint. Fantastic job. He will bring in crowds, whether to support or heckle. No matter what it brings in interest internationally also.
From a development point of view, he made a great choice.
I have been following his families antics, and here in Australia, we won't put up with BS. But we will be entertained by Lavar for sure.
I just hope he uses this as an opportunity properly without distractions.

What chances of Gelo joining as 3rd import? (is there a spot, not sure?)

Corey tweeted that they've signed Aaron Brooks too, Hawks instant top 4 at this stage.

Any love for old mate Beston who got slayed on here less than a week ago from putting it out on twitter!

Gotta love the Hoops nuffies who bagged him when they only thing they know about basketball is whats ranted about on TV by Steven A Smith

Are we running a board here for how many games we get to before his fool of a father 1 - Trashes our league and 2 - Yanks his kid out of Australia and takes him elsewhere?

I agree probably not a lot of minutes. But still contribute. From his short announcement on The Jump his focus maybe on conditioning and strength. Against solid bodies in training and also mentoring by, what looks like Aaron brooks and Josh Boone and Dave A(dont know if signed sorry) He will be prepared. Plus low games and getting a feel for being professional.
As for Gelo, well sometimes deals of this nature, there must be something more in it for them.
It will be a circus - but I like it. Maybe Illawarra will play a few NBA sides this coming year.

If he yanks him out of the NBL - he will not be drafted. So they have a vested interest in this.
I consider Lavar a much more out there marketer. He reminds me of a much louder Cal Bruton. Who was an exception marketer, except he was a player and coach too. Cal wanted all his kids to play on the same team at one point.

I'm not so sure about top 4 but they will be interesting to watch.
More eyes on the NBL now thanks to Hampton and Ball.

By my count, the Hawks roster currently looks like:

Todd Blanchfield
AJ Ogilvy
Tim Coenraad
Emmett Naar
Daniel Grida
Angus Glover
Sunday Dech
Sam Froling
Josh Boone
Aaron Brooks
LaMelo Ball

It's pretty extreme in terms of the experience levels of the players so that's going to be a challenge for a rookie coach, but there's some serious potential there.

Ok. maybe I jumped the gun, strong potential for top 4 then. Ppl thought they'd make finals last season with Conklin, Jett and CJ, Boone and Brooks with Lamelo is a massive upgrade IMO. Plus the other lower end teams aren't really making splashes in the cheque book. United and Kings have built rosters to compete for finals, we know the Cats will have something up their sleeves to match those 2, 36ers have become a bit of a rabble losing players faster than they're signing them. Bullets I feel will always be up and down, but will fight for that last spot. NZ are still up in the air. Illawarra have built a solid team and they've done it reasonably early, props to them, they will "push" for top 4.

I can't wait for Lavar to tell me to "stay in yo lane" when I trash his kid.

Yeah Top 4 will depend heavily on how good Brooks is exactly. We've had Bowen and Ferguson, but neither was rated as highly as Ball at this point of their careers so it's hard to gauge his impact, but I don't imagine he'll be dominant. Hopefully he isn't a selfish chucker hoping to average 20PPG to boost his draft stock. That's the real risk with him (zero cares about the dad for me) - Bowen and Ferguson accepted their roles and played within the team concept, will Ball do the same?

Isn't he similar to his brother? More about passing than scoring?

I think he's more of a scorer from the footage I've seen of him.

Does Flinn have the coaching chops to handle Ball and the ensuing circus?

Adelaide have become a rabble.
Well said Senator 11.

Will there be anymore next star signings?

Who will have more impact Hampton or Ball?

Great to see Next Stars going to teams other than the Big 3.

Yes, it appears his dad will be a handful, but this is already paying off for Hawks and the League. Just read the tweets from people wanting jerseys and streaming.

Not to mention the fact that they're getting a player, probably good for a decent bench contribution, paid for by the League. Win-Win-Win

What are the Beaches like in the Gong?

Can't imagine too many players queuing up to shovel snow and freeze their tits off in Canadia.

Canada? Wut?

Australia is signing touted projects and you think Canada is gonna pull a decent national league from nowhere to compete all of a sudden? Their national league is terrible.

Apparently his current coach in the Spire League (Jermaine Jones) is also coming to Australia to "coach" him on how to be a professional athlete.

I look forward to the NBL's various social media comment sections turning into cesspools of teenagers complaining that LaMelo isn't playing 30MPG.

It'll almost be as bad as most Perth threads on here...

From memory, didnt Brooks have problems with alcohol (thus ending his NBA career?) I might have him mistaken with someone else but without researching it I thought he did have some issues with the drink?

As for LaMelo, people jump on the hype train and think he is going to put up numbers in the NBL? He has talent, but he is not strong enough to be a consistent factor in a professional league.

Time will tell.

I don't remember that with Brooks - couldn't turn anything up with a quick google search either. Might be thinking of Ty Lawson?

Craig, you're thinking of Ty Lawson

Ty Lawson - correct, both undersized guards so that's what made me think of Brooks.

Hope he still has enough in the tank to contribute for the Hawks either way.