The price is right: The talks that kept Pepper in Perth

At just 24, Elijah Pepper’s trajectory in the Hungry Jack’s NBL continues to rise.

The Perth Wildcats guard took another clear step forward last season, averaging 10.5 points per game and drawing genuine interest from rival clubs once he hit Free Agency.

But for Pepper, the priority never shifted. He wanted to stay in Perth. It was just a matter of getting the right deal done.

“This (the signing) was really important because of the prospect of potentially losing Ben Henshall, who is a starter-level player,” ESPN’s Olgun Uluc said on the Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“Pepper had interest from around the League and it basically got to a point where he said, ‘hey Perth, if you can get to this, I’ll re-sign’, and they got to that and he re-signed.

“Credit to him and his people for being swift on the negotiation.”

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Already a Boomer and a standout at NBL1 level, Pepper’s ceiling is obvious.

Now, with another season ahead, the expectation is simple: more opportunity, more responsibility, more growth.

“He’s that future marquee potential isn’t he?,” Pete Hooley said.

“He can do a little bit of everything and do it really well, so great signing for the Perth Wildcats.”

There’s also intrigue around what comes next in his development.

“He’s really important and we’ll see if he takes another step up,” Uluc added.

“He took a step up toward the end of last season and we know what he can do as a shooter, as a scorer.

“Is there another element to his game? Will we see more creation? I’m intrigued to see that and if you’re looking at the Perth Wildcats they don’t have the high-level guy, but having someone like Elijah Pepper who can carry it in stretches, Jaron Rillie returns and he can carry it … there’s some point guard, ball-carrying juice there that they didn’t have throughout the entirety of last season.”