Quick. Please sign David Wear.

Wilson hopefully they see a bright future for, and with a good coach will continue to develop.

Kickert you can only think he came cheap after getting the arse from Brissy. He's as a soft as a snotty tissue, but can add some value coming of the bench.
Locals are always the priority.
Assuming Andy Pandy comes back, and they can sign a quality import as their starting PF, that will be a very good front court.

How much do you reckon Kickert is earning?

Teams can sign 6 stars outside the bench-cap (however much that may be next season.)

Bogut
Ware
Lisch
Newley
???
???

Hopefully they can squeeze Kickert into the bench cap, and that leaves two import slots to sign a PF and starting SF.

If they pay Kickert per rebound, they'll save a LOT of money... If he didn't come at a discount this coming season, that's a huge mistake...

Question becomes, who are your 4th to 8th men?
(Or perhaps more realistically, 5th to 7th.)
Not only is that an important on-court question, but it shapes your salary and cap situation.

If both Kickert and Newley are in you best 5, then you have a good (but old) starting line-up and just need to look for some youthful spark off the bench.

If you can sign two (more) gun imports that push both to the bench (and at least one into the bench-cap) then you have a great 7~8 man rotation.

My personal opinion is split as to whether they need to prioritise a starting import PF or SF.
Perfect world you go for broke, but as you said, budget, Kickert's salary, and the bench-cap probably dictate that they can't.

Bogut is so dominant inside, especially defensively, that he can carry a weaker PF (and/or Kickert) in the frontcourt, and having Newley as your 6th man, would give you an explosive backcourt.
On the other hand, to maximise his impact you want a (solid,) mobile, and athletic PF to cover his weaknesses and give you that total front-court dominance.

It's been said (including by me) that the Angus Beef touched up the Pork Chop in their encounters this season, but fact is it was an overall superior front-court (anchored by Kay) that did the damage. Same thing happened against MU in the GF. Boone & Pledge were a dominant presence in the paint, but had not enough support.

IMHO Newley is too old & slow to be a starting SF in this improved league. But on the other hand Kickert is too soft to be a starting PF.

Agree that if they wanted to make sure, they'd go for broke and get starting quality SF and PF, but I don't think they can...

I don't think they'll lock those pieces down anytime soon... Maybe they wait and see if Bowen gets drafted... With a proper pre-season under his belt and under a proper coach (hopefully) maybe that could work for him if he doesn't get a guaranteed contract (I'm not up on what qualifies these days when drafting). He definitely showed glimpses last season and his effort especially was better than most *cough*fuckingKickert*cough*

I think you go for the best player you can in either position and then try to cover as best as possible... If Lamar Patterson is available, do you pass on him because Kickert can't rebound to save his life and you need a better PF? Or do you grab him and get a bigger version of Turner that can fill in better for Bogues while Knobhead is on the court and also hope this Hunter kid is a significant improvement on Pineau?

Newls was one of the best at getting the the basket last season, but needs to be used properly... Kicks on the other hand was worse than a wet fart in a crowded elevator...