HOWNBL draft works
The historic draft for the New Zealand national basketball league is already drawing big interest from players ahead of registration.
The NBL’S management has worked through the compliances under the coronavirus restrictions to set up a seven-team league that will tip off in Auckland on June 23.
The Auckland Huskies, Canterbury Rams, Franklin Bulls, Manawatu Jets, Nelson Giants, Otago Nuggets and Taranaki Mountainairs will play up to three games per week, over six weeks in the 2020 Sal’s NBL.
With the teams wanting an even spread of talent, a draft has been set up to find the 84 players required for action.
General Manager Justin Nelson explained to Stuff how the draft would work with registrations opening next Monday and closing on June 5. The draft is planned for June 11.
Registrations are open to any Kiwi or international player currently residing in New Zealand. Kiwis residing in Australia will also be allowed to register, but must adhere to quarantine regulations when they arrive in New Zealand.
‘‘Since the announcement of the league yesterday I’ve now had 21 emails from New Zealanders wanting to register for the draft,’’
Nelson said yesterday.
‘‘I don’t know the abilities of all those players but it shows the fascination with the whole draft concept.
‘‘We expect many of New Zealand’s best players and rising stars to be part of the competition.’’
With the coronavirus pandemic still gripping much of the globe, Nelson said their research suggested New Zealand’s NBL might be ‘‘the only competition that Kiwis will be able to play anywhere around the world in 2020’’.
2020 SAL’S NBL – HOW ITWORKS
■ Player can register from May 25 - June 5.
■ At the completion of the player registration on June 5, the NBL independent panel will rank the top 14 players.
■ Prior to the draft there will be a three-day preselection window for all seven teams.
■ During this period each team can pre-select players based on four criteria:
■ 1: The player has lived in the team’s allocated region for no less than 10 years at any one time.
■ 2: The player has attended school in the team’s allocated region for no less than 4 years.
■ 3: The player has previously played the bulk of their NBL minutes for the team.
■ 4: The player had previously signed for the team for the 2020 Sal’s NBL season.
■ When pre-selecting a player, the team will offer the player a roster position/ ranking (1-10)
■ If the player accepts, they will be pre-selected to that team.
■ If under the criteria more than one team can pre-select a player, the player can only agree to one offer.
■ Each position on a roster (1-10) has a different pay scale, with ranking No 1 being the most.
■ No team can pre-select more than two players from the top ranked 14 players, meaning each team will have two of these players each.
■ At the completion of the pre-selection period the league will hold a draft (June 11).
■ The pre-selections will not be announced publicly until the Draft.
■ The draft will be 10 rounds of 7 selections, followed by two rounds of emergency player selections (to cover for injury or illness).
■ As the draft unfolds it will be announced if a player has been pre-selected or if the team is ‘‘on the clock’’ meaning they will have 90-seconds to select from the available players in the draft pool.
■ At the completion of the draft, each team will have 12 players including two emergencies.
■ The draft will be followed by a three-day trade window where teams can complete trades.