Williams Urges McDowell-White West

With Keanu Pinder locked in, 2010 NBL MVP Corey Williams has urged the next step for the Perth Wildcats is to secure free agent Will McDowell-White.

McDowell-White is the hottest property on the free agency market after showcasing the immense impact he can have on games this season.

He averaged 10.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.2 assists per contest in the regular season and in the Championship Series, his scoring improved to 11.6 points per game at 48.4 per cent from the field.

Perth’s roster looks strong heading into next season with Pinder and Bryce Cotton locked in, and Williams believes McDowell-White should join to create a big three.

“The only team he should be looking at if I was him, I’m going out West, I’m going to the Wildcats, 100 per cent,” Williams said on NBL Overtime.

“Cut the check which they will have the means to, give him whatever he needs, sign him long term and get him in that jersey.”

McDowell-White played alongside Breakers’ import duo Barry Brown Jr and Jarrell Brantley last season.

Williams insists Perth’s duo of Pinder and Cotton will make a potential McDowell-White transition to the Wildcats an easy one.

“Why was he able to be so successful in New Zealand, what are two biggest ingredients that he had?” Williams said.

“So you put him with Perth [Cotton and Pinder] and who do they replace? Barry Brown Jr, Cotton and Jarrell Brantley, Pinder. Same duo.

“You wanna have that success? Get next to those two, I guarantee it will look the same way, guarantee you.

“You can go get a big import centre, you got your locals sorted, two premier locals. Go get your import centre, that’s for real. Rebounding and playing defence, which they lacked ridiculously last year it was a joke. You go get your centre, game on.”

2018 NBL champion Peter Hooley believes the Wildcats’ signing of Pinder is the perfect addition for building a strong core around Cotton.

The Wildcats have made some recent moves to their roster, and Hooley expressed his excitement for the club to move forward with a strong squad and redeem a mediocre past two seasons.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/JackHeverin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackHeverin</a> we are all having the same reaction to this ?<a href="https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OlgunUluc</a> drops that the <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@perthwildcats</a> are looking to complete their big three by signing Will McDowell-White.<br><br>Watch the full Marketplace episode: <a href="https://t.co/EyDdXqgnFx">https://t.co/EyDdXqgnFx</a> <a href="https://t.co/dfdsFBKxiR">pic.twitter.com/dfdsFBKxiR</a></p>&mdash; NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1642006371112742912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We’ve seen notoriously along the NBL recent history, you need a strong Aussie core that you can retain and build with to build the culture to have the success,” Hooley said on the latest episode of NBL Overtime.

“But Perth…it really has been in the last few years, how do we build around Bryce? We know he’s not going anywhere, he’s locked in, he loves being in Perth.

“So they’re trying to build around Bryce and that’s the smart way to do it, it’s a really good step forward for a year they want to get back to competing for a championship.”

Hooley said that Pinder being the new centre for Perth suggests that they are building around the three-time MVP Cotton.

When Pinder was healthy last season, he was an MVP contender for the Cairns Taipans, averaging 17 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game.

But unfortunately, the 27-year-old suffered injuries throughout the season which cut his campaign short.

He rolled his ankle in December against Melbourne United in the Open-Air game, before an eye injury in January saw him out for the rest of the season.

“What did Perth need the last two years? Rebounding. That man hustles hard, he’s an extreme athlete and if you don’t put a body on him he’s going to chase the board. He’s going to put back dunks, little dump off passes,” Hooley said.

“Perth were really good when Nick Kay was crashing the boards, John Mooney was getting after the rebounds. They didn’t have that really big focal point down low, now they have it and it’s all about filling the complementary pieces around Bryce Cotton and Keanu Pinder.

“It’s massive for them and it’s exactly the way they want to kick off free agency.”

Free agency has not disappointed and you can keep up to date with all things free agency and player movement on the NBL’s Free Agency Hub and YouTube channel.