"Finger on the pulse"

The Adelaide 36ers have completed their roster for NBL26, other than finalising development players, so you could excuse club leaders if they had opted to skip the NBA Summer League.

Yet, Head Coach Mike Wells and General Manager of Basketball Operations Matt Weston are in Las Vegas, networking with key powerbrokers in the sport and keeping an eye on some of the world’s best talent.

But with a 36ers roster laden with talent including imports Bryce Cotton, Montrezl Harrell and Zylan Cheatham and locals like DJ Vasiljevic, Isaac Humphries, Flynn Cameron, Isaac White and Matt Kenyon, some have queried why Wells and Weston would bother.

Speaking with NBL.com.au Weston says he can understand the question.

“It’s always good to see guys that you could have for future years,” Weston said.

“It’s always good to touch base with a lot of the NBA guys as well.

“Mike was in Salt Lake so he was coming over. I’m here for four days but it is always good to touch base with the NBA guys.”

Wells had travelled home to the United States in recent weeks to spend some time with family after a hectic transition to life in Australia last year, after expecting to be a senior assistant coach before being elevated into the Head Coach role with the 36ers.

With three decades of experience in the NBA and working with Team USA, Wells is well connected in the States.

Weston said that had already helped with player recruitment, given Wells had previously coached both Cotton and Cheatham.

“It makes my job a lot easier,” Weston smiled.

“In this industry we’re dealing with human capital and it comes down to your connections – connections with NBA GMs, coaches and then with agents.

“It’s all about how you manage those relationships.”

For Wells, he counts himself lucky that he’s had a team locked in nice and early and is able to plan for NBL26 knowing his roster.

“We’re ready to go,” he said of his eagerness to get into the season.

“I feel a luxury that we do have our roster set right now.

“I’m starting to think about concepts but we can’t skip steps.

“That’ll be the evolution of our team to start basic and start to connect and get used to playing with each other and see what the process looks like and where we can go.”

With the roster built and several players on multi-year contracts, the 36ers can build some continuity.

New assistant coaches Kerry Williams and Luke Cann have been signed and new support staff are being locked away to increase the focus on developing local players as well.

“For us now to be able to have a plan not only for this year, but it’s set up where we can have a plan for two or three years,” Wells said.

“We know we have Ice (Humphries) and DJ (Vasiljevic) for this year and next so they’re two years and Bryce (Cotton) and Flynn (Cameron) are three years.

“It helps us and we have continuity and we know what we’re looking for in (NBL)27 and what we’re looking for in (NBL)28.

“We should be planning those things out so we’re not in a scramble mode. I don’t ever want to be in that mode.”

Weston said it was part of a broader plan to set the club up for sustained success, and that was part of the reason for the Vegas trip.

“I look at it as waves – wave one, two and three - which will get us to about another eight years and what that is with local talent and what’s coming through with import talent.

“We talk about that quite often and that’s one of the reasons we’re here.

“You don’t want to be dismissive and think ‘I don’t need to go’ because that’s when you get your butt kicked.

“You have to do this stuff to ensure you’ve got your finger on the pulse.”

Adelaide players are due to report for pre-season training next month.