Imports the final piece in United puzzle

Melbourne United’s roster build remains a work in progress, but new head coach Jacob Chance believes the club’s local core provides a strong foundation for success.

With Chris Goulding and Shea Ili boasting years of experience with the club, and Joe Ingles and Sam Waardenburg adding further star power, United is well placed even before filling its three import spots.

Now, the focus is on finding the right overseas talent to complement that group.

“Firstly we’re really happy with our local group, right? Like there’s a lot of experience, a lot of winning,” Chance said from NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

“I’m excited to continue that local group. My job is to come here and try and find some names to hopefully support them, and they’ve got to complement each other as imports, got to complement the group that we have, because we’re excited about that team.”

Chance is now weighing up the best combination, with Summer League providing a valuable look at the available talent.

“I think as long as I’ve been in the NBL, it (choice of imports) can really make or break your season, right?” he said.

“And not so much even the player, but more about the person you bring in, the human being.

“I’ve been really lucky to bring in great imports in all my time in the NBL. So that’s priority one for us, trying to find people that fit the values of our club, the values of our team, and there’s a lot of those guys around.”

United’s positional needs are clear.

“We need two perimeter players and a big. We’re pretty open about that. What those guys look like, I think, will change a little bit,” Chance said.

“We need someone who can score the ball a little bit and help us on that side of things, and maybe that other perimeter guy offsets that, right? Like do we get a scoring shooting guard, you go and get a defending point guard, or vice versa. So that’s a good challenge for us.

“Then, can we get a big to come in, and whether that’s Jesse (Edwards) coming back or someone else to replace him, really anchor our defence and hold down that five spot?”

Edwards remains firmly on United’s radar for a second season in Melbourne after averaging 13.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks a game during the Hungry Jack’s NBL26 Season.

“I had a very small two weeks with him before I left, but yeah, happy for him right now. He’s obviously here trying to see if he can get back into the NBA world, and we’ll stay in touch with him,” Chance said.

“Things move very quickly in this industry, so contracts and European teams and Australian teams, everyone’s trying to get stuff done ... we’ll certainly stay in discussions with him.”