Preparations Underway for NBL23

As the regular season for NBL22 came to an end a little over a month ago, preparations for NBL23 are fully underway.

Phoenix head coach Simon Mitchell joined Yarra Valley FM on Wednesday night and said his eyes turned immediately to recruitment for the Phoenix’s NBL23 campaign.

“From our perspective, as soon as we were out of at the end of the regular season, it was straight into recruitment mode, and at this point in time, we have spent the first couple of weeks after the season getting ready for free agency,” he said.

“We put ourselves in a position, now we have to start signing Australian players, and we are also recruiting imports for next year as well.”

Mitchell shouted out the array of access that NBL has to leagues and Australian basketballers worldwide that can be exploited throughout the year.

“Whether that be high school, college, all the European leagues, we have access to all the games that will go on throughout the year.

“There are a lot of Australians playing across the world and this is the time that we can utilise to see and to stay in touch with those guys. We have a look at them, see how they have gone this year, watch a few games and then also look at some prospective imports, but after we got the Australians right first,” Mitchell said.

(Phoenix are on the hunt for a similar player to Kyle Adnam while recruiting.)

While Mitchell wishes he could sign many talented players, there is still a lot of work to do to find the balance that the roster needs.

“At this stage, we are still sifting through our needs, and I mean it is a tough job; I want everybody, and Tommy (Greer) has to balance the budget…We have a couple of needs that we feel out of the end of last season, and we’ll make the appropriate moves as we see fit.”

Mitchell praised re-signing marquee player Mitch Creek for another three years.

“Being the first signing of the Phoenix, believing in the club, representing the club the way he does, and being there for the next three years is a great thing for the NBL and South East Melbourne Phoenix,” Mitchell commented.

(Mitchell was happy to see Creek re-sign with Phoenix for another three years.)

Along with re-signing Creek, Phoenix has secured captain Kyle Adnam, Ryan Broekhoff, Reuben Te Rangi, and Dane Pineau as a core local group for the Phoenix roster.

“We are pretty happy with the core that we have, we have had great talks with Zhou Qi in regard to his return, and we will build around that with the best we see fit.”

The growth of the NBL is one that Mitchell has been impressed with since the takeover by Larry Kestelman.

“I think since Larry has taken over the league, you can see improvement each and every year, and I think given the obstacles we have faced in the last two years with Covid, the league’s still come out with their head held high.

“The league continues to grow, the international reputation of the NBL is enormous, I don’t think people understand… everybody will want to know who is coming to the NBL in regards for the next program. Who the Americans will be in the league because it does get a lot of vision and a lot of eyes on our league because of scouts and the front office staff on the NBA,” he said.

Keep up to date across Phoenix social media and website during free agency for signings as they come to hand.

Phoenix Media (26/5/22)