United Targets Shooting Stars

The recent addition of Kyle Bowen means Melbourne has conceivably locked in nine players of a ten-man rotation, but according to Peter Hooley’s depth chart on the roster tracker on NBL.com.au, United is still short a starting point guard.

Vickerman says he knows exactly what he’s looking for to fill out his guard rotation.

“We need to add some shooting to this roster still,” Vickerman said on The Marketplace. “We also need to have guys who are willing and able to go and get their own, but really be a distributor. Guys that can have the speed to go past somebody and get other people shots as well.

“We don’t have a time limit on this search, it can be as late as we need it to be, and we’re not really waiting on other positions or if someone goes to the NBA this year as much, so we’ll take our time with the process of these last couple of spots.”

Those skillsets sound suspiciously similar to those of Matthew Dellavedova, who previously worked with Vickerman at United in the NBL21 season.

Dellavedova – who is currently knee-deep in an NBA playoff campaign with the Sacramento Kings – has been linked with a return to Melbourne following the conclusion of the NBA season.

After praising Kings head coach Mike Brown for winning the NBA Coach of the Year award, Vickerman was typically coy when asked about the potential for the star guard and Olympic bronze medallist to return to Melbourne.

“We’ve always said if he’s not in the NBA, we’ll always talk to Matthew Dellavedova.”

United’s recruiting spree of Flynn Cameron, Tanner Krebs, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, Luke Travers and Kyle Bowen hasn’t all happened overnight, despite the quickfire nature of the player signing announcements.

Vickerman and the Melbourne United powerbrokers have put a system in place to ensure the club has the best chance possible to access the talent it wants.

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“We went through a process over the last couple of years of meeting weekly with a recruiting committee that involved Chris Moore from our ownership, Nick Truelson our CEO, Mark Boyd our operations manager, and myself,” he said.

“It’s not like ‘this is our recruitment period’. Our recruitment period is all year-round and I think Chris has done an amazing job, as have the others on that committee.

“I like to step away as a coach, say ‘these are the guys we want, you guys can work out the absolute best deal we can’, and our group has done a great job in that area.”

Melbourne United’s new look roster will take to the floor for the first time on the opening night of NBL24 when they take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix on September 28.