Davis should expect 'interesting welcome' back to Adelaide

Kendric Davis' return to Adelaide has been a game that everyone has circled since his high-profile off-season move to Sydney.

That fixture is finally here, when the Kings take on the 36ers at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre at 8:00pm AEDT on Saturday.

One that knows firsthand about playing against their former NBL team is 36ers star Dejan Vasiljevic, who won two championships with the Kings and started alongside Davis in the backcourt for Adelaide last season.

"I haven't spoken to KD since he left, [albeit a brief interaction at the Blitz], so it's going to be interesting to see how he's welcomed back to Adelaide," Vasiljevic said during a recent episode of NBL Now.

"I don't know if we should use the word 'welcome' or how people are going to react.

"There was that incident with Shea Ili last year and he was met with a lot of boos, so it just depends on the night what Adelaide fans feel like.

"It's going to be a cracker of a game, in prime time on a Saturday night."

Echoing Vasiljevic's sentiments was NBL legend Mark Worthington, who said "Saturday is must-watch basketball' on Thursday's episode of NBL Now.

"It's going to be very interesting to see how KD responds in his return to Adelaide," Worthington continued.

"I was there the night Julius Hodge stomped on Brett Maher's signature and the response by the Adelaide fans was insane.

"Saturday might not have as much heat as that but it will be louder [as they're at a different venue]."

Most recently, former NBA and Brisbane Bullets star Aaron Baynes is excited to see Davis responds to the looming hostile environment in the city of churches.

"It [the game] is going to be entertaining and there is going to be a lot of lip-service until the ball is thrown up," Baynes said.

"It's going to be a fun one, with two of the best guys in the NBL [Davis and Bryce Cotton] that can put up shots in a hurry and make it count on the scoresheet.

"[From KD's perspective] he knows it's going to be loud and that the fans are going to get up and into him but can he silence them and make them leave the game earl?

"That's the mindset he [has to have]."

Saturday's Round 4 game is live on ESPN.