“A horrible decision we had to make”

Wildcats owner Mark Arena says Perth was forced to make the “horrible decision” to part ways with Bryce Cotton, risking its Championship credentials if it didn’t move fast to build its roster.

Arena believes the club did everything it could to sign Cotton for NBL26, after his previous contract had expired, but ultimately time became its biggest enemy.

“I think we started by saying we’d talk at the end of the season. Then we extended it, and we extended it again. It happened many times,” he said on a special edition of NBL Now.

“We didn’t have a set time frame on it, but at some point, you’re talking to other agents of other players, and what Bryce decides really impacts them, whether they’re going to come back or not.

“If we don’t start to move on them, we could be impacted. We didn’t want to end up in a position where we were waiting and waiting, and other players perhaps started looking or signing elsewhere. Then we’d be trying to build a roster without some of the key people we wanted, who had already signed elsewhere.”

Arena said the vast majority of the Wildcats’ roster was out of contract at the end of NBL25, making securing key signatures an absolute priority early in the off-season.

“The reality is, any team that has Bryce on it will look different to a team without, and our roster is no exception,” he said.

“We felt we certainly gave Bryce as much time as we could, and I think we probably would have been able to give more time if we didn’t have so many players out of contract. But ultimately, our role is to build a team that can win a Championship. We felt, and still feel, that we had to move on and start building that team and that roster.

“If you look at what we’ve done since the announcement about Bryce, we’ve re-signed Kristian Doolittle, Dylan Windler, Sunday Dech, and a number of others. They may have happened anyway, they may not have. But we really had to move on and get going on building the roster.”

Arena said he had nothing but respect for Cotton, after an incredible tenure at the Wildcats.

“Three championships, five league MVPs, just incredible,” he continued.

“He’s always welcome in Perth. I hope the Red Army doesn’t boo him. I hope he’s applauded, other than when he’s shooting free throws, like we do with every other opposition player.”

The Wildcats are now firmly focused on continuing their roster build, with some key starting spots still to be filled.

“I can’t really talk specifics, but we’re building a great all-round team,” Arena added.

“A bit more defensive-minded, but more well-rounded overall.

“We’ve always put a team on the floor that can win a championship, and that’s still our ultimate goal.

“Ultimately, that’s what I’m here for, to build a team that can win.”