Contract calls loom on JackJumpers stars

The Tasmania JackJumpers are already turning their attention to the off-season, with coach Scott Roth beginning to map out the club’s roster plans after an NBL26 campaign that was heavily impacted by injuries.

Several key free agents remain on Tasmania’s radar, with fans closely watching the futures of big man Will Magnay and All-NBL Second Team guard Bryce Hamilton, who is currently rehabbing a torn ACL suffered earlier in the season.

“He’s (Magnay) just had surgery two weeks ago. He’s asked for a few weeks just to have some separation time, which is normal for most of these players,” Roth said on SEN Tassie Breakky.

“Obviously, you know, the unfortunate thing with Mags is he’s played 56 per cent of all of his games in the last five years. And so there has to be some give and take in the contract of what the liability is for us, again, moving into another contract with him. That stuff has to be negotiated out and we’ll have conversations with him in those areas and see if there’s a happy medium or not.”

Magnay was again ruled out for the remainder of the season, after suffering a foot injury during Hoops Fest in mid-January.

“In the meantime, he’s obviously fresh off the surgery and not doing anything till June ... we'll eventually reach out to his agent, he has reached out to his agent and they’ll have conversations back and forth and see if there’s some kind of happy medium there that gives us a bit of a break of what has transpired over the last five years.”

Hamilton looms as another major decision for the JackJumpers after a standout debut season before injury struck. The guard averaged more than 18 points, four rebounds and three assists before tearing his ACL.

“We’re definitely in talks about what that would look like long-term ... so it’d be something where if we could bring him back and help him with his rehab in July and hopefully by December, he’s ready to go and then we actually put him on the roster,” Roth added.

“But it’d have to be a long-term deal for us. We’re not gonna get him all the way to that point and then only play for us 15 or 20 games maybe, and then he’s free. So we’re having those conversations with Bryce and he’s a hell of a kid more than anything else ... it’s just a shame that that transpired with him.”

Roth also confirmed the club is working to retain two important locals in point guard Sean Macdonald and forward Majok Deng.

Macdonald is nearing a return from the ACL injury he suffered during the pre-season.

“Sean and Majok are both guys that we are currently in conversation with and hopefully getting them across the line within the next week or so,” Roth added.

“I’ve always said with Sean, he’s just going to play. Whether he starts or 25 minutes, he’s always going to be in that mode. Last year was, I think, the sequel of that. But we’ll see how it goes with them.”

With Nick Marshall and Josh Bannan already locked in for next season, Roth also revealed the club will soon sit down with David Johnson to discuss his future.

“He is definitely a guy that we think that can help us. But he’s got to reshape his body and do some things also,” he said.

“We’ll have conversations with him. He loves it here. The role that he ended up being in is not quite the role that we wanted him in. We wanted him in for 20, 25 minutes to give you a spark off the bench in the shooting, which I don’t think is really in his wheelhouse for the long term.

“He can do it, obviously, but if we get him back in that kind of role, I think he’ll be dynamite.”