Nice but I thought that he did not like the NBL? I guess he changed his mind. Looking forward to see him perform.

I recall him bagging the league at one point.
But, he's probably had a reality check the last few years of where he’s actually at having previously thought of himself as a one and done lottery pick. He probably realises this is his best chance to develop and take the next step. If it doesn’t work out, at least he can stay on.
Definitely interested to see how he pans out as we rarely get locals with his length and athleticism entering our league.

And this is where we need to make clear its MAKUR Maker, not MATUR Maker.

Definitely like the move - how much court-time is he expected to see? I'd be concerned running a Maker/Martin front court for the reasons mentioned above - but then has Maker signed up for backup 4 minutes?

Lets hope that Ed Smith keeps his nose out of it and the Kings coach and staff can do their jobs as a lot of people from years ago would know what sought of person Ed Smith was.

Keep him as far away as possible.

Great to see Makur Maker joining the NBL with the Sydney Kings. Great chance for not only the NBA to evaluate him but also the Boomer. The NBL will provide him a high level of competition and the Sydney Kings have a staff that's familiar with the NBA. Great choice!

Based on what I know about Lee, it seems like he will continue to stay with Davidson. He did not even play in the OQT because of college commitments. That dude can definitely play. Hopefully he will get drafted next year. 

@515

Well, sometimes things don't pan out the way we hope too. Maybe if Lee had an offer last year, he would have played in the NBL, but for now, he will commit to Davidson. Correction to Lee about the OQT. Sorry, it has been a while now, so my memory is not as good. There were reports before OQT that he could not play for Korea, but at the last second he was cleared by Davidson. He did play for them. The box score is here if you want.

https://www.fiba.basketball/oqt/lithuania/2020/game/2506/Korea-Lithuania#|tab=boxscore

https://www.fiba.basketball/oqt/lithuania/2020/game/2406/Venezuela-Korea#|tab=boxscore

People seem to be confusing Makur with Matur and Thon. Makur hasn't played in the G League and to my knowledge has never talked shit about the NBL.

Either way I'd been thinking to myself lately 'where are the future Boomers in the NBL?' You might be able to say Xavier Cooks and DJ Vaseljic but they're big 'maybes'. Ryan Broeekhoff and Delly might find form and put themselves in the conversation again I suppose. But I think Makur Maker is one kid you see that has the potential to be a Tokyo Olympian if he develops the right way. He has the physical tools he just needs to develop everything else around it and he's landed in a fantastic place to do it.

@ME

He didn't talk shit, I just remembered him saying that the NBL was out of his options. Nothing negative or controversial about it. Since I read that article before, I was surprised that he decided to play in the NBL, especially since he committed to NCAA college at that time.

https://pickandroll.com.au/p/nbl-option-is-definitely-out-makur-maker-focused-on-nba-and-college-options

"The NBL needs more Sudanese fellas. Australian sport is too white Washed already."


Yeah I agree, race should be the determining factor for NBL contracts lol

Haha taking Cambage serious - that's a paddlin'

I don't think there is any secret glass ceiling keeping anyone out of sport. If you're good enough, you're going to be found and put in the position to succeed. Now you can make argumnents about there needing to be more targeted development of Sudanese and Aboriginal players and that they need more pathways, but I don't think you can genuinely say there is anyone of any colour who is, as of right now, good enough to make a meaningful contribution at NBL level who is not getting that shot because of their skin colour. You might be able to say some kid with great potential wasn't properly developed but that is something that happens well before any question of professional league.

|Look at cricket. There are heaps of talented brown Indian kids who get overlooked for rep/ state teams for white kids. Basketball Australia is the same. If there are two equally talented kids and one us white and the other one is black/brown. You know who will get picked. Australia is still a very racist country"

Do you have anything vaguely resembling evidence to make that claim, or just your armchair view that kid A is as good (or better) than kid B, which cannot possibly be determined here?

"Ok so how is that not racist?

FWIW, I think Bball has a class issue, not racial. Unfortunately minorities make up higher proportion of the classes that can't afford club/rep Bball."

This would be more likely the issue than racism. Racism is just the branch dumb people reach for when they cant explain why everything doesnt look the way they feel it should. "Oh, there's not perfectly equal representation in every single area across the entire western society? That must be racism and sexism!" Cant be explained any other possible way. It's the lazy man's way out of a debate they don't fully comprehend. And while racism exists, and there is some racism out there, and I think it infects a lot of areas, blaming racism for everything to me often looks like medievil people blaming the sun gods for the lack of crops to harvest.

I saw the Under 19 squad and I thought in a lot of ways it's a positive thing. I mean, let's not kid ourselves, the athleticism from African/American African/Australians is another level up. What is an athletic white guy? Mitch Creek. Mitch Creek is entry level among black basketballers. What's an athletic black guy? Well in the Australian context, Mattise Thybulle. There just is NO comparison in that way. That's a genetic thing. It is what it is.

I don't think people should be shoehorned into teams for their race but I also thought the make up of the U19 team was perfectly positive for the future of basketball. Kids of all colours with all sorts of abilities and skillsets are going to come through the ranks and it's a great thing for Australian basketball. Yes, more Sudanese kids with unique frames, athleticism will find their way into the NBL, NBA and the Boomers and it's fantastic. But no one should be a quota in this game.

'FWIW, I think Bball has a class issue, not racial. Unfortunately minorities make up higher proportion of the classes that can't afford club/rep Bball.'

100%, I used to try out for under 16's and 18's SBL, but didn't played for one of the paid clubs (folks could only afford for me to play in church leagues). The coaches literally told me you're good enough to be starting 5, but you'll just sit on the bench because you don't play for a local club and we have to give those spots to them. There were even guys that were injured, didn't try out, but would be selected to play ahead of me when they were fit again. It was very disheartening for a 14 year old who's life was basketball.

Kai has been inactive for over a year now in the rankings. He used to be in the top 60 before the pandemic. It seems like his performances in the FIBA ACQ and the FIBA OQT did not have any effect at all on his rankings. All the NBL stars and Kai should hopefully have a higher ranking as the season progresses.