‘It baffles me’: Experts stunned by NBL omission

With the Hungry Jack’s NBL27 Season now just two months away, opportunities across the league are quickly running out.

Some clubs have already locked in their local contingent, while others are waiting to see which import options emerge following NBA Summer League.

Amid the scramble to complete rosters, The Marketplace panel has identified former Cairns Taipan Kody Stattmann as one player deserving of another opportunity in the NBL.

Currently a free agent, the 26-year-old has represented three clubs across four seasons in the League. He enjoyed his most productive campaign with the Taipans in NBL26, but is yet to secure a home for the upcoming season.

“Kody Stattmann has been this close about three times, from an NBL perspective, to actually locking away a position and getting a good two or three-year run at it,” host Jack Heverin said on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.

“It feels like he’s shown more than glimpses. There’s so much positional size. There’s shooting. It baffles me why he hasn’t been able to find a home, especially now he’s playing really well for a really good Cairns team in NBL1,” ESPN’s Olgun Uluc added.

“I think there are six local spots left for players at that level. It would baffle me if Stattmann doesn’t get one of those.”

Stattmann averaged 6.6 points and 2.3 rebounds across 23 appearances in NBL26, playing 17.4 minutes per game.

He has put up big numbers in the NBL1, averaging 24.5 points and 7 rebounds this season.

Stattmann is not the only local pushing for an opportunity, with David Okwera, Tom Wilson, Michael Harris, Luca Yates, Kye Savage and Kyle Adnam among the free agents the panel suggested could be on the radars of NBL clubs.

Uluc also pointed to NBA champion Alex Ducas as another name of interest, with Perth and Cairns identified as two clubs that could potentially fit him into their respective rosters.

“It’s just a matter of whether the Wildcats or the Taipans, the only two teams who I think have the ability to sign up to what I think he would want money-wise, want to bring him in,” he said.

“I think with a full season under his belt in a functional program, he could help a team.

“I’ll stress that none of that is reporting. I’m not linking anyone to Alex Ducas or Alex Ducas to anyone.

“He is one of those mid-to-high-level players, from a player-value standpoint and a contract standpoint, that those two teams could theoretically fit in.”