The Bryce is right: Cotton deal "biggest in NBL history"

Bryce Cotton has signed “the biggest deal in NBL history”, according to ESPN’s Olgun Uluc.

The Adelaide 36ers haven’t been afraid to put their money where their mouth is this off-season, making an all-in push for that elusive fifth championship.

“The number he’s (Cotton) on – I’m told this is the biggest deal in NBL history. It almost speaks for itself. It’s the largest deal we’ve ever seen in the history of this league,” Uluc said on The Marketplace.

Cotton signed a three-year deal with the 36ers last week, in what came as a shock to just about everyone in NBL circles.

“Every NBL team I spoke to, whether it’s GMs or head coaches, they were sort of like, ‘Damn, we really have to guard this guy again for an entire season. Like, this sucks.’ And another three years at that,” Uluc said.

Montrezl Harrell is also set to return for a second season at the club, alongside local marquees Dejan Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries.

“They’re building a team that, from what I’m seeing right now, when I’m going through the numbers of what guys are more than likely on, this is one of the most expensive roster builds I’ve ever seen in NBL history,” Uluc added.

“Teams are looking at this team and asking the same question, which is: how much are they paying for this roster? Because if this is what they’ve already signed – and they still have one high-level, high-money import to go – they’re a real chance of hitting that $4 million mark, which I’ve yet to see in the NBL as far as cash spend goes.

“You can spend as much as you like. You’ve just got to be willing to pay the luxury tax on the other side.

“The thing I appreciated was Grant Kelley, owner of the 36ers, when he had a media conference, he said, ‘We’ve been a top two or three spend team over the past couple of seasons.’ And he was proud of it.”

NBL champion Pete Hooley spoke to the financial impact of Cotton’s deal.

“Everyone likes to talk about the Kings and the splash they made at the start of free agency with Delly [Dellavedova] and Kendric Davis. But the 36ers right now, with the marquee rules and Bryce Cotton’s numbers, it will hurt their luxury tax for sure,” Hooley said.

“They’ve come out and said they’re going to continue to work and they want to get Bryce Cotton’s citizenship done. If they can manage to do that, which he hasn’t been able to do so far, that changes everything significantly for their salary cap.”

Hooley tipped his hat to the 36ers’ fearless free agency spree—telling fans on Hools is Hearing that more big names could still be in the mix.

Matt Hurt and Gary Clark, both All-NBL First Team selections, are emerging as the next high-profile options.

“They’re putting together a championship-calibre team,” he said.

“Winning is a nice currency to have as well as the dollars in the bank. So you can’t hurt but ask the question. This is what all the good teams do: just put all the names on the whiteboard, ask the question, gauge the interest, and see what happens.”

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