The Illawarra Hawks have worked tirelessly in the off-season to build up a roster which will help the club rise from the doldrums to challenge for an NBL title in the 2023-24 season.
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The latest piece in Hawks' coach Jacob Jackomas' puzzle arrived in the country on Saturday.
Illawarra Hawks general manager Mat Campbell told SEN Track Illawarra he was glad to have Next Star AJ Johnson at the club.
Campbell said he'd love to see Johnson go on to enjoy the same successful career now being had by the Hawks previous Next Star, LaMelo Ball.
After playing for Illawarra Ball was picked third in the 2020 NBA draft. The following year the Charlotte Hornetts young gun was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and was named an NBA All-Star in 2022.
Ball only recently signed a new $260 million five-year deal with the Hornetts.
Read more: Hawks sign Korean sharp-shooter Hyunjung Lee
The talented guard showed he was destined for greater things during his stint with the Hawks. But while Ball put up some good individual performances, the team struggled, winning only five games all season.
Campbell said the club had learned some valuable lessons from the LaMelo Ball experience, particularly around not relying too heavily on a young player just starting their professional career.
"The reality is when we had LaMelo Ball we were last on the ladder that year," the Hawks GM said.
"We were heavily impacted by injuries that year, we had Aaron Brooks, a 10-year NBA veteran snap his Achilees early in the season, I think only five games in. We also had Josh Boone, another NBA import we had, broke his nose quite early in the season too...so we had a few outside influences that didn't really help the team.
"But I guess the biggest learning from that year was you don't want [Next Star] to be a full pivotal part of the roster as far as you have to rely on them.
"What I think New Zealand have been able to do well is, and they have had three Next Stars sort of go through their pathway and get drafted quite high, is that you use them in spats, so you don't go too hard on them and you use them as a role [player].
"Now the interesting thing for us is, having been over in Vegas only a few weeks ago and seeing AJ in the flesh, the role we had pictured for him I think might be bigger than what we initially thought.
"His skill set is enormous but the reality is he is still an 18-year-old kid who is going to have to learn how to play with men and against men to be successful.
"That's why he is out here. He is out here to learn how to be a role player because the reality is not everyone can be a LeBron James or Michael Jordan.
"You got to find a way to keep your confidence up and feel like you are the best player in the world but the reality of being a solid NBA player is you got to work your way into it."
Injuries decimated the Hawks last season but Campbell was confident this year's more balanced squad was better able to handle any injuries.
"We look back to LaMelo four years ago when he started here, we had Sam Froling, who is now four years older, just turned 23 and in the Boomers 18, which has got 15 NBA guys in it. He is just one of three NBL guys in it.
"Dan Grida was also there when LaMelo was there so we've got some of those young guys when we had LaMelo that have actually developed......so I think our balance is a lot better than what we were with LaMelo.
"I think the fact that we've got three quality imports, we've got some really good Australian content and we brought in the South Korean kid who is basically an Australian.......we have a good nucleus that way but then we're able to put in someone like a Todd Blanchfield who has played 350 games in the NBL and Mason Peatling who has been a championship winner with Melbourne United.
"We''ve put some veterans around to support them but the reality of it is it is a younger emerging group still with some imports that have got some points to prove.
"We're pretty excited with the roster. The biggest challenge is we're 12-deep this year, the hardest part is who has to sit but that should account for a nice competitive environment at practice which should push everyone to be their best.
"This year we've planned to be able to handle injuries as they come. Fingers crossed we don't get any but if we do, we've definitely got a roster that can handle it this year."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
