Sixers looking to deepen roster, capitalise on Cotton

The Adelaide 36ers came within seconds of championship glory in NBL26 and are already making moves to go better next season.

Speaking during a press conference with Adelaide media on Thursday, Sixers General Manager of Basketball Operations, Matt Weston, revealed the club was looking to deepen its roster and capitalise on having the competition’s best player, Bryce Cotton for another two seasons.

While the season only ended in the fifth and deciding game of the Championship Series on Sunday, Weston, Head Coach Mike Wells, CEO Nic Barbato and Executive Chairman Grant Kelley have wasted no time conducting exit interviews and planning sessions for NBL27.

“We're going through that,” Weston said.

“We've agreed to terms with a player whose contract's just gone through the NBL right now - and that's a main player so we've got another one locked away.

“We've got another two guys that we're just talking through to see if this is where we want to be and how we want to go through that.

“So, I'd like to think in the next week or so we'll have a bit more vision around that, pre-going into the free agency (period).”

While loathe to give away too many details on personnel yet, Weston said there were seven players contracted already for next season, and defence was an area the side could be bolstered.

“It's something we want to improve in, absolutely,” he said.

“I think we can be much better in that, and that's going to come down to some personnel.

“There's probably a couple of positions that we’re sort of going, ‘alright, what would that be and how would we get that’, get some more out (of).

“We want to deepen our roster because we're built to win now. That's the opportunity we have with a Bryce Cotton.”

One thing he was clear on was the future of Head Coach Wells, despite an unfounded rumour on radio on Wednesday suggesting Wells had been sacked.

“It was quite comical,” Weston said of the ill-informed rumour.

“By the time that I'd saw it in the evening, and I thought it was probably a little bit disappointing that it had come out.

“Noone has contacted me or the club to say, ‘is this what's happening?’, so I think it's more social media than journalism.

“We’ve done exit interviews now. We're also doing planning. We had a planning meeting for next year. He's contracted.

“We've got to remember, we’re one rebound away from winning (the Championship). It'd be pretty tough on him.

“And I think he's done some really exceptional things this year so my thought is he's here unless he gets an NBA gig, and we'd all understand that.”

Adelaide 36ers players are now on leave from the club and many will opt to play during the off-season in the NBL1 competition, or head overseas to play in competitions in Europe or Asia.

The NBL Free Agency period opens on Friday next week.