Brisbane's flexibility following Sobey exit

With the departure of Nathan Sobey from Brisbane, the Bullets suddenly look flush with the cap space in which to chase a superstar free agent ahead of next season, however ESPN’s Olgun Uluc says Brisbane did not make this roster change with a specific target in mind.

Will McDowell-White headlines the upcoming batch of free agents – should he not accept his player option with the Breakers – and Brisbane was reportedly interested in his services prior to the start of NBL24.

Sobey will reportedly sign with South East Melbourne and reunite with former Adelaide teammate Mitch Creek at the Phoenix, but Uluc says the move has not cleared up any discussion around McDowell-White’s future.

“This hasn’t happened with someone in mind or with someone already locked it. There is no corroboration between Nathan Sobey and a potential Will McDowell-White signing in Brisbane,” Uluc said on NBL Overtime.

“That is not a connection I’m drawing, it’s not that ‘we’ll let him go because we have something lined up’, but they have an idea of what they want.

“Now they’ve freed up some cash they can go and search for a high-level import point guard who can be their Parker Jackson-Cartwright, their Jaylen Adams.

“They have more cap space, the asking price for Will McDowell-White assuming he doesn’t take up his player option is very high. There’s still nothing between a decision being made on Sobey and the potential of Will McDowell-White.”

Seven teams have been reported as being interested in securing the services of McDowell-White, including the Bullets and the newly crowned NBL champion, Tasmania.

Despite the race in securing the star guard’s services, Uluc believes the key free agency ‘domino’ lies elsewhere.

“If you get Will McDowell-White, great, good on you. You have your local point guard, your marquee level guy, but if you don’t get Will McDowell-White you have all that money and go and get an import point guard,” Uluc said.

“He’s an easy [target] to replace.

“I think Bul Kuol is more of a swing guy because if you get him, awesome, you have your high-level local who’s not necessarily your star – you get what DJ Vasiljevic was on those Sydney Kings championship teams, whatever Jack McVeigh was on these teams … Bul Kuol is that as well.

“If you don’t get him you have to change up a lot.”

The NBL Free Agency period will begin on April 15.