No shortcuts in Kings’ title chase

As the off-season rolls on, the Sydney Kings are looking to build a roster capable of going back-to-back.

Newly appointed General Manager of Basketball Operations James Newman has opened up on why that challenge is more difficult than it may appear from the outside.

“Ultimately one of the things I really appreciate about this league, although it makes my job harder is … I know there’s talk on the media about the salary cap and the five player rule and all that stuff, but it’s structurally set up so you can’t just bring the same 11 guys back every year right?” he said at Summer League.

“It doesn’t matter how much money you have … if you won a title, then they have bigger markets and you have to juggle the pieces.”

The Kings will enter NBL27 with a new-look roster, with the reigning champions managing to re-sign Championship Series MVP Kendric Davis and star import Torry Craig, while losing Kouat Noi and Bul Kuol to rival clubs.

“For us, I think that does pose a challenge, but it’s exciting because when you win a title, I think one of the hardest things to do is how you create a new dynamic, because ultimately you can’t replay last year.”

Only two teams have successfully won back-to-back titles in the past decade, with the Perth Wildcats doing so in 2016 and 2017, followed by the Kings in 2022 and 2023.

“I’m excited about the challenge of having a group of guys who have done it and know what it takes, but also a group of guys who have never done it, are really motivated and are frankly going to have to go on a journey throughout the course of the season to get to the level we got to at the end of last year,” Newman said.

“I think it would be a mistake for us to walk in day one and say 'we’re the champs, let’s just keep it rolling', because that barely works.

“Theres a reason few teams repeat … so we need to start day one with the mentality of new team, new challenges, other teams are different and how can we get to that level again?

“Obviously the goal is to get past that level, but there’s a lot of work to do before you can even think about that.”