Kai Sotto's Presence in Adelaide Icing on Cake for Bruton

To top off the disappointment of missing out on the Brisbane Bullets head coaching role, CJ Bruton's pleas to sign Kai Sotto also fell on deaf ears which is why he was not only delighted the Adelaide 36ers appointed him, but that they had signed the Philippines sensation too.

Bruton had been groomed by Andrej Lemanis to be the next head coach at the Brisbane Bullets however the club went a different direction with the appointment of James Duncan, as he went through the paces with the Cairns Taipans but never felt really in the hunt.

While he had options to head to the United States to further his coaching future, he decided to remain at the Bullets as an assistant coach assisting with building the team under the new coach.

However, his pleas to sign Kai Sotto went unnoticed, and every time the 36ers made a new roster announcement he would feel somewhat envious that he wasn’t getting to work with that group and worried about trying to go up against them.

Perhaps the one player Bruton is now looking forward to getting stuck into working alongside once he arrives in Adelaide from Brisbane having undergone knee surgery recently is Sotto.

"Then with Kai Sotto, we've got the blessing of having a young kid who has been put on my doorstep who I was pushing for when I was in Brisbane," Bruton said on Sixers Fix with Scott Ninnis. Click here to listen to full episode.

"From the time we were in the hub I was trying to push that through the organisation and not knowing which way our organisation was headed, and who was coaching. Everyone let it fall on deaf ears but I said he was coming to someone and I still remember following Kai from when he was in high school. 

"He ended up back in the Philippines after taking his name out of the G-League elite where he was trying to play before COVID. Then when that fell through he tried to go back to the G-League and I knew he was going to get snapped up. 

"I wanted the club to jump on him but it never happened and then when I was in Brisbane still I saw the 36ers snap him up and I was really disappointed to miss out on working with him. 

"He has such a great upside even though I know he's still young and as an 18-year-old kid there will be some adjustment for him to play against men in the NBL, but I'm so excited by his ability to already make an impact. 

"I can't see why he won't be able to make his mark this season and like Mo King, they both have aspirations for bigger and better things. But it's all about them making themselves part of our team and helping us play well, and that's important for their development."

When Conner Henry and the 36ers parted ways, Bruton caught up with someone he has a strong history with, Jeff Van Groningen, and within a few weeks he was appointed head coach for the first time.

With 516 games and six championships to his name in the NBL, his pedigree was strong and having felt ready to already be a head coach but spurned by the Bullets and Taipans, all of a sudden that team Bruton was worried about trying to beat in Adelaide was his.

The 36ers still have some roster space and time to make another signing or two, but right now Bruton couldn’t be more excited about the playing squad he is taking on having been put together largely by Sixers GM of basketball van Groningen.

The Sixers already had Daniel Johnson and Sunday Dech under contract, were able to re-sign Isaac Humphries and have since added imports Todd Withers and Dusty Hannans, Melbourne United championship winner Mitch McCarron, emerging guard Tad Dufelmeier and are giving the first NBL opportunity to Manny Malou.

In an ideal world, the coach will have a big say in putting his playing group together coming into a season, but this has been a unique situation with Bruton taking over in Adelaide and he couldn’t possibly have any complaints over his roster.

"From afar when the team was coming together in the first place and thinking about going up against them, it looked like a tough team and now knowing it's my team, it's an exciting mix in the group with youth and experience," Bruton added.

"We'll have the ability with Todd and Dusty to be versatile and then we have championship winners with Sunday Dech and Mitch McCarron so that's a pretty exciting back court with our back court and the guy who can lock down different players. 

"DJ has always been on the cusp of having an all-time great and by the time he's done he'll go down in the books with Adelaide, and he's been one of the players of the decade as a scorer who can put the ball in the bucket. He does it with such ease. 

"Having Isaac Humphries who is an elite player who has had stints overseas too including the NBA and having him back in Adelaide is definitely an added bonus with his intangibles and size. The attributes he can bring to the floor is huge. 

"Todd and Dusty bring that experience too having travelled the globe a little bit, and they understand culture and I think our Australian culture will embrace both of those guys and show them a lot of love, and we'll get a lot of value out of them as well."

It was quite the eventful period from the end of last season NBL season when Lemanis departed as Bullets coach to Bruton eventually ending up being appointed coach of the 36ers.

Bruton went into the off-season feeling ready to be a head coach after five years as assistant to Lemanis at the Bullets on the back of his 20-year playing career with Perth, Brisbane, Wollongong, Canberra, Sydney and finally the New Zealand Breakers.

Lemanis departed with the belief that Bruton was the man ready, willing and able to smoothly step into the role as head coach to replace him, but ultimately the Bullets went a different direction and appointed American James Duncan.

The Taipans then head a spot to fill too following the departure of Mike Kelly and Bruton did go through the process with the Snakes, but they ended up going with Adam Forde fresh off coaching at the Kings in #NBL21.

Bruton had plenty to weigh up but ended up committing to stay at Brisbane until the shock news of Conner Henry and the 36ers parting ways.

He ended up being appointed as new coach in Adelaide and having felt ready to be a head coach, was delighted and thankful to be given the chance after admitting to some disappointment about how things panned out both with Brisbane and Cairns.

Bruton is yet to move to Adelaide having recently undergone knee surgery, but once he and his family arrive in South Australia, they hope to make it a long-term home.

"I'm not sure when I'll be coming to Adelaide yet. I had to come back to Brisbane after my initial introduction and I had surgery recently so I'm waiting to get the all clear," Bruton said. 

"Once I get that all clear I'll be able to move about and do things. I haven’t got that yet but it shouldn’t be too much longer and while I'm still here I have been able to work with Todd Withers. 

"Everyone else has been in Adelaide together but at least there was one player here I was able to spend some time with in person. Hopefully we can get into SA soon and get started with the rest of the group."