All-NBL big tops Hawks' shopping list

After months of speculation, Illawarra General Manager Mat Campbell has confirmed the Hawks are making a serious push to sign MVP nominee Matt Hurt.

“It’s still ongoing at the moment,” General Manager Mat Campbell said.

“Obviously Matt, All-First Team guy, has great opportunities in other leagues. We are progressing with that.

“JT (Justin Tatum) is in Indonesia at the moment coaching, so he's keeping a good eye on that as it progresses.

“He's a fantastic talent. We certainly feel that he'd fit our mould going into this year. We're hopeful, but you just never know.”

Hurt averaged 19.9 points and 6.9 rebounds across 34 games with South East Melbourne, and shapes as an ideal fit for a team riding the momentum of a historic Championship win.

The Hawks have farewelled Darius Days (now in Japan) and Lachlan Olbrich (headed to the NBA), while Sam Froling is sidelined for the season with an Achilles injury.

Securing another frontcourt piece to pair with Mason Peatling and Harry Froling looms as a crucial step in their bid for back-to-back titles.

“Matt knows our league, so that's a good reason why we honed in on him pretty early,” Campbell said.

“We've certainly got other options as well at the moment.

“Again, finding some good traction on the back of being successful helps. Having Justin Tatum as our head coach also helps. The fun style of basketball, like last year, the way we played, the ability to get our group to come together, it was a fun year. We're hoping that continues, but we obviously know all the other teams are out there trying to do the same thing, and we just want to be competitive.”

Campbell said building a backcourt that complements superstar Tyler Harvey remains a key priority in the Hawks’ recruiting strategy. Filling the void left by Trey Kell III, though, will be no easy task.

“Tyler is a pivotal part of the reason why we're successful,” he said.

“Finding someone that fits the way he plays the game and allows him to have some freedom, which is what Trey did for us last season. Pretty much the same mould. We would have loved to have kept Trey. He was fantastic all the way through the year. A bigger guard who can rebound is important to us.

“We are here at Summer League. There are some interesting guards, names that have been given to us, so we'll assess some of the guys here. There are also some guys that have had European experience and a couple of NBA guys we are looking at as well.

“We are pretty excited to see how the roster is going to finalise. But most importantly, from our point of view, they have to be good people and fit the Illawarra culture.”