One thing that could influence how he fairs is his situation at Perth. New HC Morrison will determine his mins.

If Morrison likes Traverse, he can use his vast and respected NBA reputation to advance Traverse's prospects and ultimately, is career.

That's right often it's connections that get fringe players into the NBA the thing with Creek though is there was still NBA interest in him at the time but SEM made him an offer he would've been silly to knock back.

Creek said in the year he spent in the US playing in the NBA and G-League financially he made about the same money he was getting paid by the 36ers, the SEM offer was for double that amount.

Second year Blanchfield generally sucks (regardless of team since Townsville) so Travers has a big chance there especially with the injury. The biggest unknown is just how Frazier will be played, will Cotton play more point this season and will Wagstaff be backing up the 4 in every situation or could Travers be given minutes there.

If there Are minutes to be had then the opportunity is there.

Did we think that Terrence Ferguson would be a starter on that OKC team after watching him play or not play for the 36ers? Ferguson had a beautiful shooting stoke and was athletic as hell but I certainly didn't see him as a trusty defender that he was relied on to be at OKC.

Plenty of other examples too like that dud from Illawarra two seasons back... he played some NBA but showed us far less than Travers has already

Darington Hobson? Some imports come here especially in-season just to grab a contract to stay in shape ahead of a better opportunity opening up after the season. It was obvious Hobson was putting in the bare minimum effort.

A bit like Brandon Paul at the Sixers last season, put in more effort than Hobson but was really just trying to stay in shape and avoid injury ahead of his next gig. Ferguson himself was very underwhelming by rarely going to the hole (like Paul) but he had an NBA draft position to worry about.

Based on Travers' playoff series, he's a chance.

The question would be what specific area of his game will be highly sought after. He needs to make himself valuable by becoming elite at something. Consider the other Aussies in the NBA- Mills (Shooting, intangibles and morale, professionalism), Ingles (Shooting), Giddey (Playmaking and passing), Thybulle (Defense). What is Travers biggest selling point and what makes him stand out? I haven't seen enough to know.

But for a 19 year old (just turned 20), looking at his playoff series, the potential is absolutely there to become an all-around elite NBL player within the next 1-2 years, and if you're elite NBL by 21-22, then NBA scouts will be looking hard at you given how the NBL is now firmly on the international radar in a way it wasn't quite 10 years or even 5 years ago.

He's not a bad little NBL role player but I am not seeing what makes him an NBA player. Mojave King is probably closer to the mark and I don't even think he makes the NBA. This is all just the NBL hype machine. I like a bit of hype here and there but none of them look like NBA prospects to me.

The hype is based on

- 6 foot 8 wing, NBA size and length
- Can handle the ball and pass
- Decent game nous
- Appears to have maturity and calm
- Impact in NBL at age 19 in the playoffs

Those things bode really well.

But, you need to make somebody notice you. Which part of his game can he really develop to the point where somebody says "He could play a role for our team".

Of course it may just be his all-around game. Not everybody has one specific selling point.

Landale for example, is an elite 3 point shooter for a big guy, but that's not even a core element of being a big man even today. Landale got picked up just because of his solid all-around game. Travers could be likewise, but obviously lots of development still to come before getting ahead of ourselves.

[that's not even a core element of being a big man even today]

What I mean is, it's expected that bigs can shoot from outside, but it's not core in the same sense as rim protection, interior D, rebounding. All things Landale is OK at, but not elite things that got him picked up. Not in the same way that Thybulle is an elite perimeter defender say

I just am not sure what he has that a whole lot of other kids don't. I will be happy to be proven wrong and if he has a standout season (which Perth may actually need him to do to be successful) then I could change this opinion, but as of right now.. I think the hype is overblown.

I can't remember many 19 year olds having that much influence in the NBL playoffs.

In other words it's mostly his age that spells potential.

I think the issue probably is we do have a baseline for NBL to NBA transition. Giddey and LaMelo Ball were starters, putting up decent numbers, albeit on ordinary teams. Jae'sean Tate was in the MVP conversation.

Terrence Ferguson struggled for consistency, but keep in mind he had the length and athleticism that projected him as a 3-and-D player, had looked promising in the high school All-Star exhibitions, and heavily recruited by some pretty big NCAA programs. Potential May have gotten Ferguson a gig, but it appears it hasn’t worked out for him (for OKC he could work in that Sefalosha/Roberson role, but a better shooter, though it was a lot of "stand in the corner" which never developed his, granted limited, offensive game).

Personally, and glad for the kid to prove me wrong, he hasn’t exhibited what the likes of Giddey and Ball have, and although probably comparable to what Ferguson produced here, lacks the athleticism that NBA scouts highly value.

But who knows, Mitch Creek projected similar early on (though he did tick the athleticism box somewhat), and he got a call-up, so it could potentially happen. Travers, given his age, probably is as good a bet as any homegrown Australian to make it though.

Hoops Hype have Dyson Daniels @ 12, Ousmane Dieng @ 14, Hugo Besson @ 45, Hukporti @ 74, Makur Maker @ 99, Mojave King @ 100.

ESPN have Dieng @ 12, Dyson Daniels @ 22, Hugo Besson @ 36, Hukporti @ 55, Travers @ 89, Mojave King @ 90, Nikita Mikhailovskii @ 91, Makur Makur @ 93.

I knew very little about Giddey, before he started with the 6ers last season.
Clearly for a kid, barely turned 18, he was an exceptional prospect. Rightly deserving of a Next Stars spot, and well we all saw how well he played.

Base on my limited knowledge of what the NBA looks for, I think that a 203cm PG, with his potential, was always going to be a hot prospect.

I love Travers, and am so massively pumped to have him at the WILDCATS (especially as a local boy.) Considering he was still a DP last season, he was a massive boost for us, and his performance (as a 19 yr old DP) was exceptional (by NBL standards.)

The physical comparisons to Giddey are obvious, and there is some "similarity" in the way they play. But that's about as far as it goes.

Like many who become good NBL players, Travers could progress beyond to the point where he becomes exceptional at this level, and earns himself a "look" at the NBA.
But for now, I just hope he has a great NBL career ahead of him.