Bannan upbeat over NBA tilt
Fresh off an eye-catching rookie season in Brisbane that translated to a Boomers debut, Melbourne-born Bullets’ forward Josh Bannan will throw his name into the NBA draft.
Bannan, who last year signed a three-year deal with the Bullets, worked out with Indiana during the 2023 pre-draft process and feels that experience, along his first pro season in the NBL, will hold him in good stead this time around.
“My name will be going into the draft this year,” Bannan, 22, confirmed.
“I had that workout (with the Pacers) and I felt like I did a great job and I feel confident that I could stick it at that level.
“I was focused on the NBL season with Brisbane Bullets, now I’m focused on playing for Australia.
“Whatever’s next I’ll prepare for that and that pre-draft process, but I don’t ask a lot of questions – I let my agent take care of that, Sammy (Wloszczowski), he does a great job. He’ll get me (the NBA) opportunity and then it’s up to me.”
There’s an air of confidence that emanates from 208cm Bannan, who has shown an ability to do a little bit of everything an NBA team would covet in a big man – crash the glass, finish at the cup, post up, pick n roll, stick the three ball, play some defence, handle the rock and initiate some offence.
It’s a developing package that helped him average 12 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists as an important cog in Justin Schueller’s improved team.
On Thursday, he sparked a fourth-quarter Boomers tsunami in his national team debut on his way to an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double that helped sink Korea.