Risk-Taking JackJumpers Poised for Free Agency Strike

Thursday, April 27, 2023

The Tasmania JackJumpers have a hit a position they have never had to experience in their two seasons in the NBL

The Tasmania JackJumpers have a hit a position they have never had to experience in their two seasons in the NBL. The position of losing players.

Despite losing imports Josh Adams and MiKyle McIntosh after their inaugural season the JackJumpers managed to retain the core of their talent for another title tilt in NBL23.

Heading into NBL24 though, the side has already Sam McDaniel and Isaac White to Brisbane and Matt Kenyon to South East Melbourne.

The import trio of Josh Magette, Rashard Kelly and Milton Doyle all also currently remain unsigned.

Interim Tasmania CEO Jorrick Chivers believes the time is right for change on the roster.

“We’re at a point where we realised we had taken the group as far as we could,” Chivers told SEN. “We had to take a bit of a risk, mix it up and try a few different things to push us back to that next level, back to the finals, and hopefully to a championship.”

“Basketball is such a big sport worldwide that spending big bucks isn’t about winning – it definitely doesn’t correlate to that.

“We’re savvy with how we got about it, and we try to spread our money along.

“We saw last year we had 13 guys that were playing regularly which is pretty unheard of in this league.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">????? ?????? ?? ??<br><br>Here’s some highlights of what Matt Kenyon will bring to the Phoenix for the next 2 years! <a href="https://t.co/2zYkGuXCm2">pic.twitter.com/2zYkGuXCm2</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1647741650737979392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

One player who will likely command an increased contract should he return to Tasmania is All-NBL First Team selection Milton Doyle.

Doyle – who is currently representing Tofas in Turkey alongside Perth’s Brady Manek – set the NBL alight in his first season in the competition.

Head coach Scott Roth has classified Doyle as the key re-signing for the side in the off-season, but Chivers says while progress is slow with the guard, the potential for a return to the league remains likely.

“We’re in constant dialogue with Milton and his team,” he said. “There are some complexities around the fact he’s currently signed with Tofas.

“We’re being very, very patient and we’re extremely confident we can get something done when the time is right and we can get to the point where we can get things signed, but we’ve also got to respect Milton and let him finish out his season.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">? MVP | Milton Doyle<br><br>?? 23 say?<br>?? 6 ribaund<br>?? 11 asist<br>?? 32 verimlilik puan? <a href="https://t.co/tJQmKgsg3s">pic.twitter.com/tJQmKgsg3s</a></p>— TrendBasket (@TrendBasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrendBasket/status/1647575635307515904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“He’s playing very well over there which obviously makes you nervous because it means there’s going to be more interest, but from our perspective if Milton doesn’t sign we wouldn’t be looking for a replacement until the end of May, mid-June anyway.

“We’ve just got to be patient and hope the experience Milton and his family had last year, and the roster we’re putting together will be enticing enough to get him back.”

So far the JackJumpers have made just one new signing ahead of NBL24, and have added former Adelaide 36er Anthony Drmic to the side.