In one of the most staggering news stories to hit Australian basketball for quite some time, tomorrow morning (AEST), the NBL's Sydney Kings are going to sit down and announce the signing of former NBA #1 draft pick Andrew Bogut.
Bogut who has had a colourful career playing at the Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers (for 56 seconds) and the LA Lakers, has been out of the game since he was waived by the Lakers in January this year electing to remain in Australia with his heavily pregnant wife.
For a long time the stories were that he wanted to return to the NBA and would do so after his wife gave birth but with this decision, it signals that he wants to give his kid a settled upbringing in Australia.
Some are saying that this could allow the NBL to go from strength to strength and I cannot deny that this is undoubtedly the biggest signing that the NBL has ever had. Bringing an Aussie home and allowing him to look after his body in a more steady 28 game season plus finals as opposed to the 82 games plus playoffs definitely does have him in the frame to have his international swansong at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In saying that though, while this is a huge signing for the NBL, it would only be huge if it led to further huge signings but in an 8 team league, it would have limited impact unless expansion was set in motion.
For those who may be confused about how this signing rates, compared to the NBA, let me attempt to provide an explanation.
The Sydney Kings are the only team in Sydney. Right at this point in time, they have underachieved and have only made the NBL finals once since they resumed in the competition in 2010/11. The last few seasons have seen them finish 7th under the tutelage of former Australian basketball great Andrew Gaze.
If you wanted to compare them to an NBA team, you would probably compare them to the New York Knicks over the last 4-5 seasons, a team that is in a big market but constantly underachieving.
Andrew Bogut had a good wrong in the NBA. Many will consider him a bust just because he was the first overall pick, but I think his time on GSW he proved to be a winner.