Interesting move for the Sixers. I was hoping more for a Hukporti type of new star as we need another big but hopefully this works out.

"opportunity that was presented to him, as "the starting point guard" for an NBL team in Adelaide, was one he could not turn down"

"They want me to come in and run the team," Flowers said

Unless he is definitely NBL starter level, I don't like the club offering him a starting position. Players must earn their position. However, I am hoping he is good enough to be a starter and that this means McCarron hits the bench.

From an entertainment and marketing prospective it is a good move by the club.

Means one of Kell or Franklin is redundant.

Yeah offering the starting role is... problematic. Feels like a move aimed at trying to put bums on seats instead of winning games.

People saying he has a bad attitude.
Bruton sure can pick em...

No one complained when giddey was offered the same ?

Giddey wasn't offered a starting spot. That came when he showed Sloan was a waste of space.

The Louisville coach Kenny Payne played one season with the Cairns Taipans in 99/00.

I've been following him for a long time because I'm also into USA basketball. He transferred to five different high schools to get the hype. When he was overrated in the Class of 2024, he reclassified and committed to Louisville. So he was rated higher than he should have been. He's actually a top 50 or so player in the reclassified Class of 2023.
At his current level, he is by no means a starter in the NBL. Also, he claims to play the PG, but he is a W-F.

Patty"TheGOAT"Mills that doesn't sound promising at all. However, wasn't he rated highly on next years mock draft?

you won't find to many high school kids ready to start at pg in a pro league.

weird move

I wonder if they just compared him to Giddy, as a good size wing and showed how you could end up the starting guard if you follow his path.

that makes a lot more sense.

Was Bronny James really a Top 10 talent? Do you really believe he was a first rounder? Absolutely not.
What I've learned from watching basketball for so long is that you can't rely too much on media, marketing, etc. Don't rely too much on mock drafts. Only believe what you see with your own eyes.

From the interviews it is sounding like he is comparing himself to Giddy.
Next Star GM Liam S said Adelaide were shopping for a next star wing.
Some where the messaging has gotten all wrong.
On attitude and comms
The Adelaide squad has just gotten even more unbalanced

No one knows what the future holds for these young prospects, so it's hard to make assumptions.
But this is the pros, not school, and the team is more important than the individual player.
If a player is ready to be a starter, that's fine.
But if he's not ready to be a starter at all, please play him off the bench.

Diop Kick, I think that's what's happened. They've used Giddey as an example, said something like "soon enough, he was running the team as the starting point guard" and Flowers has walked away citing that. Which potentially makes for a volatile situation.

Sounds like CJ thinks he could be their PG too?

"I went to the US for the NBA Summer League to find a point guard and, in partnership with the Next Stars program, we found one in Trentyn Flowers," Bruton said.

“Trentyn is a young player and an NBA prospect, but for someone who is 6'8, he has great vision and great poise. Unlike most kids his age, Trentyn has the ability to play the game at an elite level and I can see him having a similar impact as Josh Giddey and LaMelo Ball had on the league.”

It sounds like the club got desperate and rushed their due diligence because they got jerked around by the previous imports
Situation does sound very volatile
And unless the coaches get on the front foot asap
It potentially will be very toxic.

Has anyone found any clips online of Flowers running PG?

I've found lots of clips of a 6'8 athletic wing who cna shoot and finish at the rim. His name is also flowers, but doesn't look anything like a PG, traditional or otherwise.

He has never been a PG, but he has consistently presented himself as a PG for the sake of his own hype.
He is a W-F.

Of course, he is 18 years old. I don't know if he can develop into a PG in the short term, but if he learns from the coaching staff and veteran players, he could be a good one.

I've been following him for a long time because I'm also into USA basketball. He transferred to five different high schools to get the hype. When he was overrated in the Class of 2024, he reclassified and committed to Louisville. So he was rated higher than he should have been. He's actually a top 50 or so player in the reclassified Class of 2023.
At his current level, he is by no means a starter in the NBL. Also, he claims to play the PG, but he is a W-F.

Adelaide have McCarron and Cade, Franklin too. I don't really understand this. Feels like more of a next star for the sake of a next star scenario. We do tend to read too much into what is said in press releases by players and coaches though, so I highly doubt this player will simply walk in and take over the team.

One thing Adelaide won't lack for this season is ball-handlers; McCarron, Cadee, Franklin, Kell, Flowers. Dech & Marshall can also handle. There is still only one ball though, Bruton and the leaders need to do a very good job culture-wise to get buy in.

We're such a stupid club going to start Wiley at centre over Humphries and now an American Next Star at the point too.

Do you really think Wiley is going to start C?

Flowers, who measured just under 6-foot-8 by USA Basketball in June, reiterated that the opportunity that was presented to him, as "the starting point guard" for an NBL team in Adelaide, was one he could not turn down, along with the platform.

"They want me to come in and run the team," Flowers said. "Adelaide is fully bought into me being the player and person I am. When things align like that, it's a recipe for success. I grew up playing point guard, it's my natural position and something I'm very comfortable with."

Hes been told hes going to be the starting point gaurd and will run the team?

Do you really think Wiley is going to start C?

Just when you thought Adelaide couldn't be any sillier. Sheesh.

We don't rate this squad at all and this doesn’t change anyone’s view of how their season will turn out but I feel sorry for Cadee as he left Sydney to go play for Brisbane and once again Adelaide! When I’m reality he should have Shaun Bruce’s position and championships.

This team feels very short and a 6’8 American coming in that wants to play back court instead of front court.... This team feels like it will have the defense/rebounding issues of Perth last season.

"One thing Adelaide won't lack for this season is ball-handlers; McCarron, Cadee, Franklin, Kell, Flowers. Dech & Marshall".

Yeah, more than enough guys to take the air out of the ball instead of fast passing and beating the defence. Just what Adelaide needs - NOT!

The last thing I want to watch is slow, monotonous, boring half-court offense all the time.

Sounds like he will or has definitely been promised to play PG, but has he said it will be as a starter. I know those words appear in article but is that the reporters interpretation?

If Trenton said it, I would have thought the quote would have been more than a few words. Did the reporter interpret that from the actual player quotes below?

"But I feel like signing in the NBL gives me the best chance to lock in and develop my game. I'm going over there to play point guard, to learn how to run a team, and be a player like LaMelo Ball or Josh Giddey. Adelaide is a place for me to lock in and focus on my game."

"They want me to come in and run the team," Flowers said. "Adelaide is fully bought into me being the player and person I am. When things align like that, it's a recipe for success. I grew up playing point guard, it's my natural position and something I'm very comfortable with."

Having said this, we are fairly full in this position so I'm interested in seeing how CJ intends to incorporate him with existing guards. Maybe CJ sees him playing the 1 on offence with run and gun small ball line up and then defending the 3? I have no idea what his D is like but reports are he's very athletic.

This other article suggests he's starting too but no player quotes. CJ suggests he will play a prominent role, with McCarron taking more responsibility if needed. IDK, maybe he will start at training or 1st game and then go from there or maybe McCarron will until he is comfortable with the plays (not sure how many set plays he will need to learn though) and team. Will find out soon though.

Sounds athletic and could be exciting in patches but will depend how he goes against men.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nbl/nbl-2023-trentyn-flowers-who-is-he-adelaide-36ers-next-stars-program-josh-giddey-lamelo-ball-2024-nba-draft-class/news-story/7dad25a60f0edeeca695ce554998e82c

This signing, on the surface, does not inspire much confidence in the team.

Primarily, we have already committed hundreds of thousands on McCarron, he has lost his shooting so his value lies in his playmaking and other general skills.

If we give Flowers starter PG minutes where does McCarron fit in with Cadee for say the other 15 mins?

People mention Giddey. whilst I am proud that the club can attract and develop top talent like Giddey and Flowers, as the Giddey season progressed, it became more about getting Giddey developed and Adelaide more exposure than it was about winning that season.

I would rather not have that again, thats a role for Illawarra and Cairns.

The balance is not right at the moment.

Would have made more sense to get a replacement for a defensive wing to replace Cleveland. Who will be the starting 3 now? Dech? Franklin? Starling?

Sounds like a lot of risk with less upside.

Fancy comparing Bruce and Cadee, it's like chalk and cheese, one plays D and the other sort off. I said Cadee was a reasonable pick up when he signed at Sixers, alas, now like last season to many guards, there is going to to be a few unhappy players on the bench. Re Flowers , who really knows but you’re not winning with 18 year old point guards in nbl. Giddey has gone to be stellar but he probably did effect sixes chances of winning when he was there. I’m hoping the sixes have a fair season but CJ is going to have to be a wizard and Humphries stay healthy and Wiley a lot better than last time.

The Next Star program has really helped the NBL.
We continue to see players make it to the NBA because of it. It's getting a lot of attention, both domestically and internationally.
But there are some things you have to be careful with. If the league becomes addicted to this, there is a risk that the league will simply turn into a showcase venue for prospects. In other words, team performance and championship status could suffer and it could become a place to hype up prospects.
It's natural to aspire to the NBA, which is every player's dream, but we shouldn't make players feel like they're above the team. In the long run, the league shouldn't rely too heavily on the Next Star program because prospects have many alternatives like college, the G-League, and OTE.

I can see McCarron playing from the bench fairly soon.

Any chance CJ or the administration are trying to piss McCarron off so much that he chooses to leave at the end of the season rather than have to be 'encouraged' to leave, kind of thing?

McCarron's going to be a FA at the end of the season anyway so no need for that but the club did actively try earlier in the offseason unsuccessfully to get another team to take on McCarron for this last year of his contract a process which is usually done in conjunction with the player ala Blanchfield & Norton, so think there might be some "payback" from the club here that perhaps McCarron didn't try too hard to find another team to go to.

One thing is virtually certain with the signing of Flowers if he as expected starts, McCarron will be coming off the bench, Franklin is the SG, which with the lack of court time will hurt McCarron's chances of getting a big contract from another team after the season.

Mccaron wasn't leaving for another club, no club was going to match the money he’s on, nice work JVG.

The way it used to work was the departing club would pay a portion of the salary with the new club paying the lion's share. McCarron being on $350k+, clubs weren't interested even with the Sixers paying some of that.

Isn't he out of contract after this season?

If at any point in the season we have an 18/19 yo playing starting PG, then we might as well enjoy our wooden spoon

What are the 36ers thinking?! CJ could have easily reached out to his Breakers family and be told that putting the ball so much in a young boy's hands is way too much pressure in this league. This league usually has elite PGs and this kid is going to get destroyed. At least Hampton, Melo and Giddey were playing PG before they played NBL, and all 3 still struggled at times. Worst case scenario is that kid at SEM / Tassie while best case is that kid entertains but 36ers never win.

To be fair the Sixers weren't going to be winning many games this season anyway.

Yeah seems like a weird selection. Only thing I get from this is that at least it give me something to watch in the hope the kid has talent. Pretty much wrote my tickets off after looking at the team but at worst now hopefully this kid has some game. Not worried about attitude concerns, unless he is truly stupid he want to prove he is a professional to NBA teams.

"Santamaria said he's hearing that's what is going to happen."

Yes he did say that a little while back, but in the same conversation he said Adelaide would recruit an import PF to replace Cleveland. He got that completely wrong.

Adelaide hoping that this kid turns into another Ball - the experiment worked for Illawarra, after all.

Didn't the Hawks go into administration after Ball's year?

How did it work out for Illawarra ? Ball played 12 games for 3 wins.

The success of the Next Star program is all perception.

"How did it work out for Illawarra ? Ball played 12 games for 3 wins."

I don't understand why people can't work out that it is a team game. His team was rubbish so what were people expecting? Similar story with Giddey. Also from memory wasn't the team having a good middle patch until Humphries got injured? You put Ball and Giddey in strong teams then guess what, they would have won a lot more games, what a surprise! People are ruling it out because the win percentage was low and then sticking their head in the ground not even contemplating it was because the team was rubbish.

Giddey and Ball played with a rare maturity for their age.

Agreed that the success is a perception though, and there are many interests at play, and at the same time.

From a team perspective, success and usefulness seems to have come when a Next Star has turned out to be a bonus as a role player, and given teams more than expected.

I think people had doubts about Giddey, but there was no doubt he was the best option at point guard for that season as it turned out.

Best way is probably to keep expectations low, and be pleasantly surprised by output.

If this is a bonus signing, then great. But if Adelaide are sacrificing their season to accommodate a Next Star, then I've never felt right about that position.

The comment re Ball was "the experiment worked for Illawarra, after all."

The team went under financially at seasons end and lost 9/12 games when he played. He didn't play the entire season as he was mothballed.

So the question is how did it work out for Illawarra? What's the metric you are measuring?

How did Giddey being in Adelaide work out for Adelaide ? More people at the game? perhaps sold more #6 singlets , sure. Adelaide gets to say Josh Giddey played here, but so what? Patty Mills played for the Tigers and that didn't change their organisation or bring success.

All I can think of is the 36ers get to say Giddey played here in their pitch for a Next Star. Id like my team to be about winning teams and championships not puffing their chests about who used to play here.

Has a Next Star been on a championship winner? Can't be bothered looking it up but if they were any good Id probably remember.

Next Star's salaries are paid by the league not by the club.
Their salary is also not counted to the clubs salary cap.

It’s a roster addition for zero expense to the club.

All his quotes read like he's walking headfirst into a harsh reality check. So that'll be fun to watch. And on the off chance he somehow is actually as good as he thinks, it's good for us.
Think we all know there's a pretty low likelihood we're going to be any good this season, so bringing in a kid for free who might be able to play some sort of role on the team is better than nothing.
We've had a pretty good strike rate over the years with the Next Stars program, so you never know.

My comment about it working for Illawarra was sarcastic - sorry, I should have made it clearer.

I don't see this signing as a good one, no matter what the motivation.

The positive is that the team can say 'look we are a good place for high level talent to develop', which is great but it comes at a price.

The chances of a championship drops if we are designing the team to cater for a 1 and done rookie (who we give the keys to the offence).

It could work if the NS was complimentary to the team's core players and it was known from the start the NS was complimentary not the main stay.

^^ Correct, Ball was a disgrace. Only interested in himself at the expense of the team and cost the coach his job. After that game he had out of the box, they wrapped him up till the draft despite there being more NBL games to play. Left without saying goodbye to teammates, just didn't give a rats arse about anything else other than being drafted as high as possible in the NBA.
Bringing that in is always a good recipe for success....not.

"Next Star's salaries are paid by the league not by the club.
Their salary is also not counted to the clubs salary cap."

Except the league has been deliberately vague about the whole process and who pays for what. We know for (pretty) sure, the league pays $100k for each next star, but several (most notably RJ) made it clear they were getting more than that and its likely that comes from the club.

"It's a roster addition for zero expense to the club."

If you're promising playing time to a kid who isnt ready to help you win there's absolutely an expense.

The next stars program is about the appearance of success, not actual success.

Three days after his arrival CJ confirms Flowers will be the starting PG.

"Yeah ... 100 per cent," Bruton said when asked if Flowers will start at the point position.

Well... I suppose we couldn't get any worse play from the point guard position than we've had the last few seasons... could we?!?!

Sigh. Why? Just why?

That's one nasty development for Sixers fans.

They may as well get a camera crew behind the scenes to film what is going to be a massive shitshow of a season.

CJ effectively said it will be PG by committee calling out Flowers, McCarron and Cadee, which I'm not sure if that is better or worse. Telling Flowers the PG doesn't necessarily need to bring the ball down but needs to know where all of his team mates are on the floor, sounds like a bit of pre-work and player management to get him to accept playing off the ball if needed and accept a hybrid role. Either way, it should become clear pretty early on whether Flowers can run the point or not.

It's concerning that PG was his natural position before he had growth spurt in High School! Running a team against primary school kids is light years away from a young kid running an NBL team against men. No matter how athletic or skillful he is, he will have a lot of catching up to do if that's the last time he ran the point

A key thing missing last year was someone being a finisher, which hopefully the imports will cover, but they also struggled with no true PG? We need to hope Flowers and Cadee will provide enough at the PG spot to be competitive

Looking at the roster, it really seems to me that CJ wants a bunch of guys who can play 'positionless' ball, with multiple guys who can attack off the dribble, rather than a clearly defined point guard. Eg, Franklin, Kell, Starling, Cadee, McCarron, even Marshall and Wiley, are all capable of putting the ball on the floor to attack the rim.

Theoretically, if the team buys in and moves the ball, rather than letting it stick, there is a fair bit of athleticism there to put a lot of pressure on the rim. If things go well (for once) you could actually see an equal opportunity offence where different players top score from week to week.

So its a head scratcher to hear CJ pandering to Flowers and his agent, saying he's going to be starting point guard. I hope its just words and CJ has no actual intention of giving Flowers that much responsibility! The kid could be a great sparkplug for the team off the bench with his athleticism, but if he plays point guard, I think he's being setup to fail both himself and the team.