Kings nab gun college player
BOOMER JUMPS AT SHORT NBA STINT
One of Australia’s most coveted returning US college talents is set to join Sydney as the Kings continue to pull out all the stops in their reload under legendary coach Brian Goorjian.
It is understood burly Victorian forward Keli Leaupepe, who spent the past five years at Loyola Marymount University, is set to sign with the Kings when free agency opens next week.
It’s another impending coup for a team that has brought its greatest coach home and quickly replenished the best part of an entire roster.
Only highly rated Next Star Alex Toohey, bench igniter Kuoat Noi and veteran stager Shaun Bruce are the key pieces to return from last year’s sixthplaced squad.
With superstar NBL22 MVP Xavier Cooks locked away on a lucrative multi-year deal, the dominoes are set to fall when free agency opens at 9am on Monday morning (AEST) with star Cairns wing Bul Kuol, feisty New Zealand guard Izayah Le’Afa and Leaupepe Harbour City-bound.
Leaupepe prospect.
An undersized four at 199cm, the 23-year-old is a physical specimen who loves to crash the glass and score inside.
He finished his last college campaign with 10.2 points and 5.7 rebounds.
There are other layers to Leaupepe’s game. He shot the three-ball at 38 per cent across his five seasons at LMU and projects as an inside-outside talent who will stretch defences with his shooting and mobility.
The Kings are understood to be seeking a high-level import point guard to co-ordinate their NBL25 squad. is an intriguing
An unexpected phone call had Australian Boomers gun Jack White racing to catch a plane for his next NBA opportunity.
White is back in the big league after inking a 10-day deal to close out the season with the Memphis Grizzlies.
His first assignment? Freakish No.1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday morning.
White played 26 minutes in his Grizzlies debut, splashing a pair of three-pointers on his way to 6 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in an 87-102 loss.
Forty-eight hours earlier, the former Melbourne United star who was part of the Denver Nuggets history-making 2023 NBA title run had been preparing to take a short break from the game before ramping up his preparations for the Paris Olympics.
But agent Sammy Wloszczowski, of Sports International Group, had other ideas. “Sammy called me, he said ‘can you make it to the airport in like two-and-ahalf hours?’,” White told Code Sports from Memphis, early Wednesday morning.
“I said ‘yep’. “He said: ‘you’re going to Memphis’.
“I said: ‘All right, let’s do this’.”
It’s a welcome chance for White to show the athleticism, effort and IQ that helped him rise to the NBA, after he’d battled back from a devastating 2022 achilles tendon rupture.
And there’s a little serendipity or irony in the schedule, too, with Wemby Wednesday, Cleveland Thursday and then LA Lakers – he’s just completed the season with G League affiliate South Bay – ending with a clash against his former teammates at the Nuggets.
“It’s funny, I saw the boys less than a week ago, went and saw them play the Clippers when they had that tough loss and I caught up with them all in the locker room after,” he said.
“This time round I’ll be competing against them, It’s funny how it all works out.”
The injury-hit Grizzlies were granted a last-minute hardship exception and they targeted White because he was game ready.
“I got into Memphis late last night (Tuesday AEST), but the game’s going to come around tonight and I’ll be ready to go if I’m called upon,” he said.
It’s a positive footnote to a campaign that began as the No.1 pick in the G League draft, was frustratingly interrupted by freak injuries that limited him to 22 games, and ended with a typical acrossthe-board contribution of 9.1 points, 6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, while shooting 35 per cent from deep.
“One of the injuries, my teammate Scottie Pippen (Jr), who I’m teammates with again in Memphis, went up for a layup and his leg takes out my leg and I sprain my MCL,” White said.
“Another one, I get hit in the funny bone, worse than I’ve ever been hit there.
“It gave me pins and needles, then it settles down, but, for a week, I can’t feel my pinky or my ring finger and that’s all the way up my arm.
“Just ridiculous, annoying, frustrating injuries.”
Also frustrating for White was watching his former United teammates fall just short in a remarkable NBL final series.
“Huge congrats to Tassie, they do things the right way, they’re a great club,” White said. “I always support my boys and the club that gave me so much.”
Contracted with United through the end of next season, White is continually linked to a return to the club. That potential return has recently been attached to a likely NBA opportunity for Cleveland Cavaliers-tied Luke Travers. But there’s a world where both could potentially coexist in Melbourne.
White, himself, hasn’t ruled out a return to John Cain Arena next season.
In the meantime, White says the Boomers want to atone for their underwhelming effort at last year’s World Cup, where they missed the quarter-finals and that, along with the chance to achieve the lifelong dream of becoming an Olympian, has driven him.
“I’m excited to get started for this next campaign,” he said.
“It was a disappointing team result in Japan and all of us have a bitter taste in our mouth and wanted to avenge that performance.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot.”