McDowell-White's Incredible Giddey Comparison

Mody Maor once described his relationship with Will McDowell-White as a “beautiful marriage”.

The New Zealand Breakers coach clearly holds his star player in the highest regard, and his latest praise for the 25-year-old highlights that even more. 

Maor says McDowell-White has a skillset comparable to NBA star and former Adelaide 36er, Josh Giddey.

“Will is a focal point of how we want to play,” Maor told ESPN. “There’s a reason he’s been so good in this system, there’s a reason he was so good last year.

“You go and look in the local market, and you understand there’s nobody who can really do the things Will does.

“The only local player who does these things is Giddey, and he’s not coming to the Breakers.”

McDowell-White turned down reported interest from around the competition to extend his stay in New Zealand by a further two seasons – with much of that interest coming off the back of an immense individual campaign, where he led the Breakers to the Championship Series and earned a Most Improved Player nomination.

Incoming Brisbane coach Justin Schueller was not shy about publicising his intent to recruit a player with a similar skillset to McDowell-White, and it was also reported that Perth were looking to form a big three of McDowell-White, Bryce Cotton and Keanu Pinder.

“I’m really happy Will felt the right place to be was with us, and this is the right place for him to be in order to take the next step long term,” Maor said. 

“He left a lot of money on the table to join.”

Although the bulk of New Zealand’s local contingent is now sorted ahead of the upcoming season, there are likely three import spots to fill.

The addition of former Illawarra Hawk Mangok Mathiang to the roster will see the Breakers look for an import power forward, as well as – according to Maor – a pair of sharpshooters.

RELATED: Pardon Granted Exit for Mangok

“We’re going to have an import who’s a four/five, and we’re going to have two more imports on the perimeter,” Maor said.

“If you want to peg them into positions it’s a two and a three, but not really. It’s two perimeter players.

“One of my conclusions from last year was that we wanted a little bit more offensive versatility on the perimeter … we want to create a situation where we have another perimeter player who can create, at least to a degree.

“We couldn’t find that in the local market, so that required us to finagle a little bit in how we build the roster from a local standpoint. The decision we went with is not to go with a four and a five import.”

New Zealand will play its first game of the new NBL season on Saturday, September 30 against Cairns.

For the full story head to >> NZ Breakers boss Mody Maor talks roster build, Dererk Pardon, culture, and import hunt.