Completing the puzzle

As rosters slowly continue to be built this off-season, each club is trying to piece together the perfect championship-contending puzzle ahead of NBL26.

While many teams are preaching patience at this moment, there are still some big priorities that each should be focusing on going forward.

Let’s take a look at one major need for each team over the next couple of months.

A dynamic playmaker
Adelaide has made a strong start to their recruitment, loading up on local depth and locking in Flynn Cameron on a multi-year deal. With two of the best locals in DJ Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries in their starting lineup, it’s crucial for the 36ers to find the right pieces to complement them this season.

With last season’s playmaker Kendric Davis heading to Sydney, the 36ers need to replace him with a high-level point guard who can lead from the front. Whether that is a known commodity or they take a chance on someone with no prior NBL experience, this team needs an elite point guard to bring everything together. 

Potential depth chart:
PG:  / Rasmussen
SG: Vasiljevic / White 
SF: Cameron / Harris
PF:   / 
C: Humphries / Griscti

Shooters
The Bullets were the most effective three-point shooting team last season (37.6 per cent), and it was a major reason they were still in with a chance to make the top six, even after all their injury issues.

Casey Prather is set to return after his incredible NBL25 season, and now he needs more pieces to put this Brisbane team in the mix. Whatever way new head coach Stu Lash decides to go in terms of guards/wings, they need to be high-level shooters to help create space for Prather and even Tyrell Harrison down low.

Potential depth chart:
PG: Batemon (IP) / Norton / Savage (DP)
SG: McDaniel / Murray / Devers (DP)
SF: Prather (IP) / 
PF: 
C: Harrison / Smith-Milner

A head coach
It may seem obvious, but the Taipans need to nail their head coaching appointment as soon as they can. Thankfully for Cairns, the rest of the league is enduring a very patient off-season, which means them taking their time with selecting the perfect candidate isn’t hurting them too badly. However, as time ticks away and more players find a new home, free agents will want to know who they are playing for before they put pen to paper.

Potential depth chart:
PG:  / Adnam
SG: / Stattmann
SF:  / Higgins-Titsha
PF: / Galloway
C: Waardenburg / 

A floor general
The Illawarra Hawks are in a perfect spot ahead of their quest to go back-to-back, having locked in nearly all of their championship-winning roster.

With Matt Hurt rumoured to be a target for Justin Tatum at the power forward position, it then becomes very important that the Hawks find a floor general to lead this team. It’s stating the obvious that the signature of Trey Kell III would be ideal, but if that isn’t possible then they need a similar size guard who can complement Tyler Harvey as well as Kell did. 

Potential depth chart:
PG:  / Hickey / McDowell-White (DP)
SG: Harvey / Lee
SF: Swaka Lo Buluk / Blanchfield / Grida
PF:  / Peatling 
C: Froling / Olbrich / Yates (DP)

Interior presence
While United’s roster looks scarce compared to some of the others around the league, their history tells us that they’ll have no problem in finding big names to suit up in NBL26.

With Chris Goulding and Shea Ili locked in and Finn Delany rumoured to be close to joining, now the gaping hole in the middle becomes even more important. It wasn’t the only reason that United fell short in the Championship Series last season, but a lack of a dominant interior offensive presence did not help their cause.

Potential depth chart: 
PG: Ili / Wilson
SG:  / Daniels (NS)
SF: Goulding / Krebs 
PF:  / Bowen
C:  / Krslovic

Parker Jackson-Cartwright
The rumours continue to swirl around New Zealand that star guard, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, may return for his third season as a Breaker. With all their changes in the off-season from ownership down to the playing group, the stability from keeping Jackson-Cartwright as the leading playmaker would be huge. Across his first two seasons, the lightning quick guard become a dominant force offensively and quickly becoming a fan favourite.

Potential depth chart: 
PG:  / Britt / McNaught (DP)
SG: / Le'Afa / Isaac (DP)
SF: Lopez (NS) / Te Rangi / Davison
PF: Mennenga / Darling / Bairstow
C:  Fall (IP) / Loe

A marquee
It’s been widely reported about the Wildcats’ desire to land a marquee big man, however if that doesn’t eventuate, then they still must move some pieces around to fit the next best thing. The positive thing for John Rillie is that the pieces he currently has signed have versatility, which means they have options depending on where they want to look.

If it’s not a marquee center like Yani Wetzell, then perhaps they can find a point guard and then use their last import position next to Kristian Doolittle down low.  

Potential depth chart:
PG:  / Russo-Nance
SG: Dech / Pepper
SF: Windler (IP) / Mayen / Huefner (DP)
PF: Doolittle (IP) / Wagstaff / Gerovich (DP)
C:  / Okwera

Imports
When you look at the Phoenix’s depth chart currently, you can understand why fans are a little nervous. However, things aren’t as worrying as they look when you break it all down. Josh King has two marquee locals in Jordan Hunter and Nathan Sobey locked into his starting five, with key bench contributors in Owen Foxwell and Angus Glover there as well. Teams often use an eight-man rotation, which means if the Phoenix nail these three import openings, then they’ll be right around the mark. King has an abundance of connections both in the United States and Europe, which will have him searching all over to find the perfect three pieces to complete his puzzle.  

Potential depth chart:
PG:  / Foxwell
SG: Sobey / Glover / Foster (DP)
SF: 
PF: 
C: Hunter / Aliir

Size
It’s déjà vu of a different variety for Sydney ahead of NBL26, because once again they look stacked with talent up and down their roster. However, once again there is the same question from last season lingering over this team – are they too small? The short answer is yes, but the Kings have been proactive in addressing that and are now searching for some height to bolster their front court. They are in a nice position by where they can take their time with this final signing and assess all options, whether it’s an import or local to slot in behind Keli Leaupepe.

Potential depth chart:
PG: Dellavedova / Bruce 
SG: Davis (IP) / Robertson / Amir (DP)
SF: Kuol / Galloway / Maluach
PF: Cooks / Noi
C: Leaupepe /  / Spurgin

A scoring wing
Whether Tasmania retains Milton Doyle or not is a separate question here. For hypothetical reasons, if they lock away Doyle, then they still need to find a scoring wing who can play alongside him.

The rest of their roster looks primed to compete in the true Scott Roth style, that is being gritty defensively and executing offensively. However, the biggest hole they have had lately is their lack of scoring, especially when they lose players to injury. A true scoring minded wing will go a long way to lifting their offensive production.

Potential depth chart:
PG: Macdonald / Ayre / Nunn (DP)
SG: / Drmic / Brown
SF: / Marshall 
PF: Bannan / Deng
C: Magnay /  / Woodhill (DP)