Bogut: "They are stacked ... absolutely stacked"

Andrew Bogut believes Adelaide is the team to beat in NBL26, well, at least on paper.

The 36ers have gone all in, landing Bryce Cotton, Zylan Cheatham, and locking in Montrezl Harrell for another season.

But as Bogut knows, talent on paper doesn't guarantee a title.

The Kings had one of the most talked-about rosters last season, but the hype fizzled with a Play-In exit and an unconvincing campaign.

Still, the former Boomers champion, now Kings owner and assistant coach, has been impressed with how the 36ers have brought together one of the most exciting squads in recent memory.

“I give Adelaide sh*t, but they're putting their money where their mouth is,” Bogut said on The Basketball Podcast.

“They're spending and saying, ‘We're not going to be content with subpar years. We're going to go above and beyond what we have to spend to be good.’

“So credit to them. They're putting their money where their mouth is, and it's going to be an interesting season for that dynamic.”

Beyond their import trio, the 36ers have bolstered their local core with Flynn Cameron, Isaac White and Matt Kenyon, joining returning marquees Dejan Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries.

“Last week I said they're the most expensive roster ever assembled in NBL history. They've now added another very, very good import, so it just goes up even more,” Bogut continued.

“They're setting the bar, making sure that next season or within the next 10 years, whoever wants to chase being the most expensive team in NBL history, you've got to ... they're setting the bar high. They are stacked. Absolutely stacked.

“It will be very interesting to watch. They're definitely the title favourites on paper. The Kings have been title favourites on paper before and that hasn't ended well. Generally, those ones are hard because you can’t just write the names on a piece of paper and throw it into the jump ball and say, ‘Hey, we’re the best team, we’re going to beat you.’ It just doesn’t work like that.”

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