The "huge danger" team

Underestimate Melbourne United at your peril, former MVP Derek Rucker says.

“They're kind of coming in as a little bit of a sleeper team, because of the loss of Jo Lual-Acuil Jr and Hukporti,” Rucker said on NBL Now.

“I think they're a huge danger team.”

While United will bring back the majority of their roster from last season, they have had to replace three key members of a team that was one quarter away from winning a championship.

With Hukporti and Luke Travers signing NBA deals and Lual-Acuil exploring options overseas, United opted to fill those holes with some familiar faces, who have had previous success at the club.

“Marcus Lee is a really good import in our competition. He suits this league very well,” Rucker said.

“He shoots a high, high percentage from the field. He keeps it simple. He's an outstanding rim protector and defensive player. Every game he plays in, he benefits his team.”

With the addition of Jack White and Rob Loe to the big man mix, Rucker believes it’s the latter who is the key to success for this Melbourne team.

“I don't think Melbourne United can afford to play too many games without Marcus Lee at their disposal and having an impact because he's such a positive rating guy,” Rucker said.

“The problem is, he’s been somewhat fragile. He misses games and he gets in foul trouble.

“If he is out of the lineup for any of those reasons, there's a lot of pressure on Rob Loe and there is a lot of pressure on Jack White to play bigger roles.

“Now those guys are more than capable of it, but I much prefer if I'm Melbourne United to have Marcus Lee healthy and ready to go.”

While Rucker believes United will impress this season, former championship winner Damon Lowery isn’t as confident.

“I’m counting them out,” Lowery said on NBL Overtime.

“They’re capable, so I’m not completely counting them out. But I don’t think they will (succeed)."

“Two years ago they didn’t make the playoffs … that team back then had more talent than this year’s team.“Yes, Jack White is back. But Jack White isn’t Walter White. He isn’t going to break bad like that.”

With a championship rematch scheduled to tip off NBL25, Rucker believes that Tasmania will have their work cut out for them against a team still reeling from that Game 5 loss.

“Melbourne are going to be juiced up right now. They (Tasmania) stole that championship from them in Game 5,” Rucker added.