great news for anyone who isn't a Wildcats fan and has hopes of their team winning a title this season.

otherwise it may rob a lot of fans of the chance to see the Ennis show live which so far has been quite outstanding and at times dominating.

Without his athleticism offensively Perth will fall back towards the pack IMO. Beale has been great so far but has not quite stamped his mark on each game quite like Ennis has.

Cue NBL haters with their "typical NBL" responses.

Well he wont get called up to the D league, and the Heat dont really need him. Even if someone got injured I see them claiming someone off waivers or signing a FA vet.

The first line of the article is to draw people in and then the rest tells the actual reality that it's unlikely. If he did happen to go though, how big an impact it has depends on how good the replacement is. The Cats still have plenty of talent.

They'll check out how he is progressing and work out what areas he needs to work on.Cant see them taking him back as hes still quite young.

No way he is going back yet which is good for the Wildcats and the league.

Sounds like a good excuse for some Miami employees to enjoy a paid vacation Down Under

as Mick said the Heat have busloads of Vets with proven talent lining up to win a ring, they don't need Ennis.

Shayne Hope is being a wee bit emotive there. I just listened to him on SportFM and even the host (bemusedly) accused him of being sensationalist when he actually laid out the facts.

This is by and large a check-up by Miami officials, doing their due diligence in tracking a player's progress.

That, and what Beth said!!

If the Heat were serious about bringing him back this season they would have kept him around for all the summer camps / preseason before shipping him overseas.

He is still very raw, his athleticism puts him two steps ahead of not only the defender but himself sometimes.

Not saying he isn't (probably) the MVP of the league because he is, just saying I think Miami would want him to stay overseas for the duration of the season.

Anyway, if the Wildcats lost him, do you not think they would be able to replace him pretty sufficiently with the type of coin he is on?

I did like that, although they have recall rights, there is a deadline so that we can get a replacement in time to accumulate the required qualifying games before finals. Good cooperation from all parties.

Think every one knew that miami own him, his awsome in the nbl but when u step up to the nba its a tad bit differnt. I hope he stayz just wana keep watching him, if he ends up goin perth have a few options already and we played with 1 import for the past two seasons and made back to back grandfinals. Not spectacular but i think waggs will fit in nice, with redhage knight beal and marto, still not bad line up.

Just a junket for Heat staff to spend some time in Australia =)

They will be telling him to work on his defense and three point shot (ie. so he can be a 3 & D guy for the Heat), and enjoying the WA spring/summer. Nothing more.

His not going anywhere!

I don't believe if a player leaves midseason the remaining money he is owed counts towards the salary cap.

Consider the amount of import re-shuffling that goes on each season, particularly during seasons. Are you saying that a team that spends its entire cap at the start of the season can never replace an import because of cap constraints?

Yeah, fair point.

@ Nathan- Shayne Hope is well known for sensationalising and beating stories up for more than they are worth.

Well that paper's nickname isn't The Worst Australian for nothing

Interesting thing is if he does go (which is unlikely) his salary is guaranteed so Wildcats would be up for the whole sum even if he leaves. Then it would be pretty obvious if they replaced him that something untoward is happening re: salary cap.

"Heat are coming out as when they tried to watch Ennis on NBL.TV it kept buffering."

bahaha

"Heat are coming out as when they tried to watch Ennis on NBL.TV it kept buffering."

Post of the year!!!

As far as I know the Wildcats have guaranteed his contract whether he chooses the leave, is cut or is called up to the Heat. Which is extremely rare in the NBL.

However for the Heat to call him up, it would cost them 2+mil including tax and there would need to be a bunch of injuries.

hopefully there'll be more players choosing to come out in the future. first flynn now ennis......

I doubt he'll be on the Heat's roster any time soon, they're probably just coming down to check on his progress and catch some Aussie sunshine.

And besides, even if he did actually get sent back to the US, Perth have Matty Knight to come back soon. They may lose a lot without Ennis, but Knight is no mug.

I can't see him leaving but if he did life goes on we are going along great without Knight so putting him back in the line up and giving Hire and Wagstaff more opportunities will help make up for the loss.

Wagstaff is the Harden of the NBL...

It's interesting, because last year I was really unhappy with Wagstaff through most of the year and even started getting grumpy when he checked in.

But his form this year has been absolutely brilliant.

The Cats have a pretty good record of bringing in quality imports in recent seasons (Lisch, Dunigan come to mind) so you'd think they'd be well prepared to handle the loss of Ennis in the unlikely event that he leaves.


An interesting analysis of Ennis from a scout perspective for anyone that's interested:

http://www.prospectnext.com/post/65531862660/james-ennis

Great article, I think most people who watch the NBL seriously would agree with just about all points. Could do great work with an NBA team but needs some polishing to shine. Wildcats are a great environment for him to do that in.

Ennis will stay the season.. but he will become a very notable NBA player.. mark my words