For a bit of context, some of the past Bob Staunton medalists:

2003 - Damian Martin
2004 - Brad Newley
2005 - Stephen Weigh
2006 - Patrick Mills
2007 - Patrick Mills
2008 - Ryan Broekhoff
2009 - Jorden Page
2010 - Corey Maynard
2011 - Mitchell Creek
2012 - Venky Jois
2013 - Dante Exum
2014 - Jack McVeigh
2015 - Dejan Vasiljevic
2016 - Tom Wilson

Who's he replacing on the roster Drmic? I can't see Teys being let go being both the captain and the best bud of Motum.

Zodiac Drmic is staying I thought was the word on the street. So I imagine Creek stays in Europe. Either that or we go with 2 imports.

Seems like a similar recruiting strategy to a couple of years ago where Adelaide quietly locked up Drmic and Deng.

Drmic, Deng, Froling & Mcveigh are all guys you'd imagine to be highly pursued & NBL gettable college returnees over the past couple of years & they're all in Adelaide. Pretty good effort again by the club.

It's been mentioned on here that Childress isn't likely but Boti still seems to think that Adelaide are keen as ever to see him back. If Drmic is signed, is it just the three imports to go then?

Childress can't return and they might be expecting to lose Creek. So, might as well sign what you can and then fill gaps with imports.

Isaac, why can't he?

I like that 36ers are developing youngsters over poaching from other NBL clubs.

Equity issue is the rumour.

Equity issue?

Childress asking for 250k more than 36ers can legitimately offer. If he comes back to Adelaide it will be late in the season.

Could leave an import spot open for Chill when/if Creek exercises his NBA/Europe out clause early in training camp/preseason?

Equity issue?

So is Adelaide the only capital city team team that's sticking to a soft salary cap?

"Sixers are not flash for cash so Joey has to work within a budget. As always he will make something out of very little so you have to admire that "

Haha, So you want to be grouped with the Taipans & Hawks now? Pleeeeeeease!

For those who have seen McVeigh and Froling play, who is the more accomplished thus far? Does one have a bigger upside? Froling seems to be a stretch 4? Is McVeigh a hustle guy (like a Jacob Holmes type) or has he got good shooting range?

I have to say that the college stats for Froling and McVeigh are pretty underwhelming. With Hodgson moving on the Sixers are VERY thin up front right now. Deng will need to step up a lot but they also need a strong, experienced big man along the lines of Josh Boone if they want to return to the grand final.

FWIW if you compare the numbers put up by McVeigh and Creek in their respective U19 World Championships, they are very very similar.

I think McVeigh could be a Mitch Creek level prospect someday, he is around 4 years younger.

Id expect McVeigh to be a solid rookie, he is coming in at 21 so a little older than Creek was as a rookie. The numbers he puts up will depend on his court time a bit too, and this 36ers team is looking very deep.

Great signing and prospect imo, and getting him for 3 years is great too, so hopefully we can see him flourish in a 36ers singlet.

I hope so too Captain Jack, but I'm more worried about next season. The time for this Sixers team is now. Ownership needs to shell out to get DJ some real front court help or we will waste his prime years. I’m fine with Froling as long as he is the fourth big man and not someone we depend on for contributions every game. Likewise, McVeigh is ok as long as Creek comes back.

If Creek as expected does leave how do we replace him? You can't really so I think the signing of Froling and McVeigh along with the unlikely return of Childress might be a signal that we know we might have to take a step back next season but hopefully in a couple of years time (when Creek comes back?) we might have a contender again.

Id Assume if Creek leaves we would get a higher level import pg, get childress or someone similar as a import fwd, and then Ramone Moore or Drmic or Deng may need to start.

Thats if we cant get Motum in to replace Creek, which it seems the 36ers are atleast trying to do.

So if we assume no Creek or Motum or any other aussie of that level

Gives us something like

Johnson/Froling
Import/Deng
Moore/McVeigh
Sobey/Drmic/Teys
Import/Doyle

You could start any of Drmic, Deng or Moore really

Still not bad, would give Deng, Drmic, Moore more minutes and opportunity, which could be ok

I'd still be tipping that to be top 4ish, assuming we get the imports right

I'd be surprised to see Sobey in 36ers colours after last season.

He is contracted. He is one of the main cogs in Wright's plans. He tapered off but would you really let him go?

I felt that might happen too but I think it's a bit too late for that now. Generally speaking something like that would've been done before the free agency period started.

If Childress isn't an option, I wonder if Conger or Buford would be good fits? Both are good rebounders and scorers and can hit the three. But both are also about Creek's height, so might be undersized against some bigs if you played them at the 4. I didn't see that much of Buford, did he match up defensively on opposing 4's much in Brisbane?

Also, if Pledger isn't too expensive, the Sixers could do worse than to sign him for a bit of size and experience off the bench.

Buford was alright when he was engaged but after how things ended at the Bullets with him quitting on the team I wouldn't want him anywhere near the Sixers.

Conger I would imagine is probably out of our price range now, dependent on the Creek situation. He's gone from playing in lowly Belgium to now playing in Spain after his season with the Hawks so would likely cost a lot more than he did this past season.

Pledger wouldn't be a great fit IMO. I don't mind him but he's even less mobile than Hodgson better player obviously but think he would be much better suited on a team that isn't so up tempo.

"McVeigh has signed as a DP. Brilliant work by the 36ers"

Is that true? If so it really is a coup?

What about Froling?

Sobey is a petulant brat that's drinks his own bath water.
Not worthy of doing up McCarrons shoelaces.

Yeah well he plays for the Sixers and I am pretty happy about that .
Sometimes bit over the top but nothing to be so bitter about apart from not on your team .
Not only does he add both good D and scoring but adds excitement to the game that we usually have only imports to do that.

I suspect the thinking is that if McVeigh isn't yet up to it, he stays in the DP role and an import is added. Otherwise, he gets minutes, is elevated and then they forgo an import or bring in a stronger one later in the season.

Only going on what I've heard.

A DP can be paid, upto the league minimum. And yes, teams can play 12 players at home and away.
There was a restriction that a DP could only play half the away games, but I don't know if that was relaxed.

Sounds similar to Magnay from Brisbane, signed to a three year deal including first year as a DP. Of course that's just a guess.

Zodiac, I remember hearing Buford quit on the team, but I guess it depends on exactly why that happened as to whether he's worth a look or not? Anyone know what happened there?

I agree Pledger isn't the perfect fit, that's why it'd have to be for the right price. He would just be handy to throw out there to counter a Bogut, Jawai, etc, instead of DJ and Deng taking a pounding all season!

It's possible that Buford quit on the Bullets but their season was well and truly done by that juncture.

So Buford leaving had no negative effects on the team in terms of playoff aspirations.

The crowds might have wanted to see him but they largely diappeared anyway.

The question would be...would Buford have done the same if Brisbane were vying for a real chance of playoffs?

Zodiac, I remember hearing Buford quit on the team, but I guess it depends on exactly why that happened as to whether he's worth a look or not? Anyone know what happened there?

Ok well if that's how it went down then I agree, he’s not the kind of guy you want on your team!

If Creek isn't going to be in the NBL next year and Chill can't come back due to the NZ thing, I'd love to see them go after Conger. Would fit the team's style perfectly, IMO.