Kings Not Shutting Door on Bogut

Sydney Kings CEO Chris Pongrass has confirmed the club has not given up hope Andrew Bogut could return for the 2020/21 NBL season.

Bogut has pressed pause on his playing career as he awaits certainty on the timing and structures of the NBL, NBA and Olympics.

The 2019 NBL MVP announced in May that he has “decided not to sign with the Sydney Kings, or any professional sporting team for that matter for the time being…this by no means is a retirement note, but simply saying any concrete decisions are too hard to be made at this point in time”.

Sydney has yet to replace Bogut’s spot on the roster due to a number of reasons and Pongrass has revealed the Kings haven’t closed the door on Bogut returning.

“There is always movement throughout the start of a season and Bogues is definitely one of those opportunities that we have to weigh up, and the pros and cons of if and when,” Pongrass said, via news.com.au.

“We are never shutting the door, but we haven’t filled that position purposely because we have been waiting for the right candidate.

“And again, we are waiting to see what will happen with Bogues’ decision.”

The Kings aren’t rushing Bogut into making a decision and are giving him all the time he needs to make a call on his future.

“Andrew told us he wanted to wait and see what was happening with the NBL, the NBA and the Olympics and we were fully respectful of that,” Pongrass said.

“We told him to go and do his thing, take your time and look after your body.

“The dude hasn’t had an off-season in 15 years, so we allowed him that courtesy to go and think for himself but in the meantime we’ve got to act in the best interests of the organisation and go out there and recruit accordingly.”

Bogut averaged 8.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for Sydney last season while serving as a key pillar in their defensive scheme.

Pongrass added the Kings are monitoring the world basketball scene closely to see which players become available if international leagues are further impacted by COVID-19.

“With where the G-League is at there is some hesitation around if it will tip off,” Pongrass said.

“We are also reading things about the Italian basketball leagues with no fans and you are seeing COVID cases happening with imports across the board through Europe.

“Leagues might start shutting down and there could be a flood of players in the market, so we are just sitting pretty and waiting to see what comes available.”

The NBL aims to begin the 2020/21 season in mid-January.