Who's next in line for Breakers?

And just like that, we have another head coaching race ahead of NBL25.

After all ten teams looked to have their coaching ranks all but locked away heading into next season, the New Zealand Breakers have dropped the bombshell that Mody Maor will be departing the club to reportedly link up with former player Jarrell Brantley at Japanese side Nagasaki Velcna.

Given Maor’s incredible success with the Breakers over the past two seasons, conversations have already started around who could take over from the charismatic mastermind.

Club CEO Lisa Edser stated “the Breakers is one of the most coveted jobs outside the NBA”, and that the club will take its time in selected Maor’s successor.

Speaking on NBL Now, ESPN news breaker Olgun Uluc says he expects New Zealand to continue its recent vein of hiring European coaches.

“This is absolutely one of the more coveted jobs outside of the NBA when it comes to who runs this franchise ... it’s Matt Walsh and this ownership group who you know have NBA connections and connections across Europe,” Uluc said.

“This is a team that has such a vast network when it comes to decision-making, and there’s a reason it went from Dan Shamir to Mody Maor and, just like the Sydney Kings who went from an American to an American to an American, the overwhelming likelihood is this will go from someone with experience in Europe or Israel, to another person with experience in Europe or Israel, to another person with that sort of experience.

“The net will be thrown very widely, but an American or someone with European experience is the best bet, but it is very early in the process.”

Just because the expectation is the Breakers will look internationally, doesn’t mean it’s a certainty. 

There is a raft of local talent – from both Australia and New Zealand – that is available and capable of taking on a head coaching job, and while Uluc all but ruled out an NBL return for a former torturer of the Breakers franchise, Trevor Gleeson , he says the club will absolutely look at every option that presents itself.

“There are two different boxes here,” he said. “There’s the local box whether you start with the New Zealanders whether it’s someone like Pero Cameron or Zico Coronel or Judd Flavell who has been knocking on the door of head coaching jobs. They’re expected to gauge all their options, so those options will be considered.

“You can look around the NBL landscape in a more holistic way when you look at assistant coaches – basically every assistant coach on Melbourne United whether it’s Rhys Carter, Jacob Chance, Dave Barlow, if you want to throw a bone to any of those guys go right ahead.

“Phil Handy is someone who, from what I understand, isn’t against a head coaching job if it comes up, and I don’t believe it’s come up to this point. He was an assistant on the Raptors when they won their championship, an assistant on the Lakers when they won their championship, and he’s not being retained by the Lakers. Theoretically he’s available.

“Trevor Gleeson is an interesting one. There’s a feeling I have – and this isn’t reporting, it’s intuition – being based in Perth, I don’t think he’d want to go to the NBL team that is the furthest away from Perth.

“Chase Buford has some desire to return to the NBL and outside of the Breakers there are no openings, but from the people I spoke to, they aren’t expected to have interest in Chase Buford.”

Although New Zealand’s first pre-season training session is still months away, there’s a distinct possibility the club – like many through the competition – will endure an interrupted campaign due to the Olympics kicking off in late July.

The Breakers have fewer potential international representatives than other sides, but Derek Rucker believes if the club wants to inject someone into the role as soon as possible, current Tall Blacks coach Pero Cameron could be a good option for the role.

“If you wanted to wrap this thing up nicely and give a coach an opportunity to show he can do it at the NBL level, if you want a great PR move, if you want something to unite a country behind you, there’s only one answer and that’s Pero Cameron,” Rucker said.

“I don’t know if he has the level of coaching pedigree, yet the Breakers are seeking, but if you need a hire right now and could lock someone in for two years, there’s someone right there ready to go.

“I just think if you want to fix things up quickly, Pero would be the guy.

“There’s a bit of sadness being experienced because we all enjoyed Mody and what he was trying to do, but on the flip side there’s a high level of curiosity with whom the next coach is and what that looks like with respect to these new free agent signings.”