King of the North: Former Next Star joins Taipans

The Cairns Taipans will call upon former Next Star Mojave King to replace the injured Alex Higgins-Titsha, announcing the 23-year-old as an Injury Replacement Player.

Higgins-Titsha will be sidelined for the remainder of the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Season due to a wrist injury, with King, who previously spent time with the Taipans (2020-2021), Adelaide 2021-2022) and New Zealand (2024-2025) set to fill the void.

King was selected with the 47th overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, with his draft rights traded to the Indiana Pacers. He spend two seasons in the G League.

The 203-centimetre guard most recently played with Tauranga Whai in the NZNBL, averaging 22.2 points a game across nine appearances.

He also represented New Zealand at the FIBA Asia Cup, averaging 17.7 points a game.

King is set to line up for his first game against Brisbane on Thursday night, with tip-off from 7.30pm AEDT, live on ESPN.

King represented the Taipans in NBL21.