Craig given NBA trial by Nuggets
STAR Gold Coast Rollers guard Torrey Craig has been given a sniff of playing in the American NBA – and he likes the scent.
Craig, 26, has been handed a chance of playing in the NBA after a sterling 2016 Australian NBL season with the Brisbane Bullets before he joined the Rollers.
He was named the NBL’s most valuable defender.
“I’m confident I can make it,” Craig said after accepting an invitation from the Denver Nuggets to play a series of matches in Las Vegas in a fortnight.
“We play a Summer League and every NBA club has a team and this gives a number of guys the opportunity to showcase their talents.
“There are rookie prospects and players from the NBA who may not have been getting much game time, as well as others from the second league.”
Craig said the series was usually watched by recruiting scouts from every NBA franchise and it played a major role in the annual player draft.
Despite Denver inviting him to the States, any franchise is able to sign him should he impress enough.
“I guess I was invited mainly because of my season with the Bullets,” Craig said.
“This is the chance for players to show teams things they wouldn’t expect.”
Craig was born in Columbia, South Carolina, and stands at 198cm and tips the scales at 98kg.
He joined the Bullets after two seasons with fellow NBL club Cairns. In 2015 Craig had a stint with the Wellington Saints where he was named the NZNBL most valuable player as well as the league’s most outstanding guard.
Craig has three more QBL matches to play with the Gold Coast Rollers before he heads overseas.
The Rollers host the Mackay Meteors at The Southport School tonight with the women’s game starting at 6pm and the men’s match at 8pm.
Mackay will start warm favourites in both matches.
The Mackay men are unbeaten after eight games this season while the Rollers have a 2-5 win-loss record.
The Mackay women are 7-1 with the Rollers 0-7.
Craig and the Rollers will then head off for the troppo tour torture test with the tough road program against Townsville on Friday, June 23, and against Cairns the following night.
Craig will then leave for a fortnight and will miss Rollers’ home matches against Rockhampton on July 2 and Logan Thunder on July 7.