I find it hard to believe that United would offer Casper less than Long, Prather or Trimble.

So in my estimations, Sydney would have the top 2 highest paid players in the league, with Cotton being alongside them. Probably fair- given they were the top 3 of last year's MVP.

Lisch, Newley, Kickert, Tate would be on good money also. And who pays Didi’s salary? The NBL or the Kings? Either way, it’s another good player or a massive freebie. Plus Moller who also spurned United for Sydney. I assume Bruce, Walker would be cheap, but not moreso than McDaniel and Smith-Milner. At least Bruce and Walker are established NBL players.

It’s not surprising that United and Sydney appear the best two teams, given they also look the most expensive.

Those two are the front runners right now, with NZ and Perth behind them. SEM, Adelaide, Brisbane and Cairns should be very competitive and any of them could challenge for top 4 if everything goes right. Illawarra are a basket case right now, let’s hope they find a gun import and get back to being competitive, otherwise Ball could ditch them sooner rather than later.

United had the second highest paid player in the league last season and it wasn't Casper Ware despite the GM telling him he was the highest paid player on the team when he found out the truth he decided to leave.

I see two key issues that will define United's season.

1. Defense. They’ve lost 2 elite defenders in Casper and Boone, and this has been noticeable. Their D has been mediocre overall. To win a championship, you need to be at least average at both ends. You can be an exceptional offensive team and an average defensive team or vice versa. But you can’t be far below average at either end, because then you’ve got too much of a weakness that will inevitably be exposed by a team who is quality on both ends. You can’t resemble the leaky siv that United has been at times.

United has plenty of talented scorers, but will their D ever be good enough? The jury remains out.

2. Balance. Fitting Prather in will be easier said than done. Remember 2017-18 when United initially struggled having Casper, CG and Prather all needing the ball. My solution is bringing CG off the bench.

There’s 3 smalls who like shooting the rock, and a big man who is devastating when he gets touches in the low post. 4 great scorers. To use them most effectively, have 2 of Trimble, CG and Prather on court together at all times. Balance them out by starting utility McCarron, and Barlow- both brilliant role players who play good D, rebound the ball, and don’t need to put up 15 shots to play an effective role.

If United can get their D to a sufficient level, and work Prather into the group effectively, then they’ll make the grand final at a minimum. Those are the keys.

Essentially, it's about balancing out your high usage players with your low usage players.

I would categorise Barlow as low usage and McCarron as medium usage. Trimble, Prather and Long are all higher usage players. CG probably medium to high.

Now, it’s possible for a high usage player to become a lower usage player in certain circumstances and still be effective. This is what happens when imports join different teams in different leagues of different strengths. But in United’s context, it’s also about strengths and weaknesses- the high usage guys are weaker in other areas. Defense, passing, etc.

So in my view, you can overstate the importance of McCarron and Barlow this year- they are both good in areas that complement the others. They are two of the best defenders in the team. McCarron is unselfish- an important quality to have alongside shoot-first players. Barlow is one of the most efficient three point shooters in NBL history- and is content with setting screens, moving the ball and then the occasional catch and shoot at a high clip.

United can become a very, very good team but I think it’ll work more effectively if these guys are still played big minutes. CG can come off the bench and be the offensive focal point when he’s on court alongside guys like Ili and Pledger. Instead of competing with Prather for touches.

can't* overstate the importance of McCarron and Barlow

It's an interesting battle between Smith Milner and Acuil for the back up 4 minutes this season.

Acuil looks like a talented scorer, but he’s loose at both ends. He’s picked up 16 fouls and committed 12 turnovers in 81 minutes so far this season.

Smith-Milner has less talent, but is the safer option.

At this point in the season, I’d be giving Acuil as many opportunities as possible to learn the system and tighten up his D, because he’s clearly got huge potential.

Smith Milner looks in great shape actually, it doesn't seem to have translated into great form but it might sometime.

Back on the money, Kevin Lisch would have to be on big dollars- I thought I remember Bevo saying Illawarra simply couldn't afford him, and the lure of the almighty coin from Sydney was too much.

Kickert switches teams constantly, which I interpret as selling himself to the highest bidder every 2 years. On the 2nd year of his current deal, distinguished career in Europe and the NBL.

Newley would be getting offers from elsewhere. Why is he still in Sydney? Who'd want to live there unless they were getting paid bigtime!

Having a house there doesn't exclude you playing elsewhere

I admit kids obviously make it less likely though.

You may be right that even with Bogut and Casper on huge dollars, United is paying more overall. I doubt there would be too much difference in spending, but who knows.