TAIPANS FACING TOUGH CHOICES
starter, a job he did well last season when Noi was hurt.
But, you would imagine another top-level two man will be brought in and Djeric will remain with the reserves and play the role of being first off the bench.
Noi is signed for now, but could be headed to the US, depending on how he goes in the NBA draft.
With a lean free-agency market for locals this season, Noi heading to the NBA would be great for him personally, but would leave a large hole in Cairns’ front court.
With the NBL dropping the import slots from three to two, all clubs have a tough decision to make.
For many years the NBL only permitted two Americans on each squad, but made the move to three about four years ago, which sadly led to the Snakes punting fan favourite Cameron Tragardh for centre Nnanna Egwu.
We are going with the information that Machado is locked in, so Cairns can fit in one more import.
If Newbill and Oliver are both keen to come back (let’s assume that in a perfect world), well then, Kelly has a very tough choice to make.
Imposing big man Oliver’s potential is out of this world after he took the NBL by storm last year.
On the other hand, shooting guard Newbill stuck with the club through the tough times and decided to come back after a wooden spoon season.
They are both positions of need, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
It was reported earlier in the off-season that the club and Oliver’s management were not talking about a new deal, but that could have changed in the months since.
Noi missed a heap of last season through injury and he and Deng still have plenty of upside to grow into and can pick up the slack of Oliver and Newbill, if Cairns needs to go another direction, for whatever reason.
But, the first priority will be securing one of Oliver and Newbill.
Melbourne United captain Chris Goulding, who won the 2018 NBL grand final MVP, headlines the free agency list that also includes Anthony Drmic (Adelaide 36ers), Harry Froling (Adelaide 36ers), Cameron Gliddon (Brisbane Bullets) and Todd Blanchfield (the Hawks).
Gliddon (SEM Phoenix) and Froling (Brisbane) will come from this list pretty quickly with their new deals elsewhere already reported.
Goulding may be a little out of Cairns’ price range but Blanchfield, an NQ product, and Drmic would be handy inclusions — pending on Newbill’s availability.
Experienced guys such as David Barlow, Tohi SmithMilner, Alex Pledger and AJ Ogilvy are also on the market.
This program has been around for a few years now and, while we have seen flashes of brilliance, the youngsters who have come into the NBL have rarely led to consistent winning for their team.
LaMelo Ball was fun while it lasted but Illawarra were a bad team, New Zealand were better when RJ Hampton was resting or hurt and Terry Armstrong was superglued to Phoenix’s bench.
At this stage there is only two Next Stars in the NBL: Mojave King in Cairns and Josh Giddey in Adelaide.
With every club losing an import and roster spot in 2020-21, having a Next Stars player may become a real advantage for those two clubs.