After going down in the semi-finals 2-1 to the New Zeland Breakers, many of the JackJumpers players have quickly shifted gears to the off-season and other basketball opportunities.
Following the NBL moving back to its more tranditional season (September-March) following two COVID interupted seasons, players now have more opportunity to join other competitions at the conclusion of the NBL season.
The recent FIBA window provided a two week pause on domestic basketball competitions around the globe so players could represent their country’s in World Cup Qualifiers. In Australia, (who had alredy qualified) this provided a mostly unwelcome delay for the NBL grand final series. But for other leagues, particulary in Europe, it provided an the chance for teams to update their squads heading into the playoffs.
A growing list of NBL players have already been picked up, we’ll focus on four JackJumpers who are heading overseas.
Jack McVeigh
BBL (Germany) – Heidelberg – 7-14 (15th place)
Following an impressive season with the JackJumpers where he averaged a career-high 14.8 points per game and shooting42% from outside, Jack McVeigh has taken his skills to Germany. McVeigh will link up with Heidelberg, who play in the BBL, the top level league in Germany (consisting of18 teams).
The team has signed McVeigh for the remaining 13 games of the regular season after releasing American Center De’Jon Davis.
Heidelberg feature league leading scorer Eric Washington (averaging 19 points per game) but the team will looking for an instant impact from McVeigh as they are languishing in 15th place in te BBL with a 7-14 record, including four straight losses heading into the FIBA break.
Milton Doyle
Basketball Super League (Turkey) – Tofas – 7-11 (9th place)
A stellar season in Tasmania by Milton Doyle didn’t go unnoticed, the American was quickly snapped up by Tofas, who play in the Basketball Super Lague in Türkiye. The All-NBL first team recipient will be joined there by Perth Wildcat Brady Manek, as Tofas look to for a strong finish to the season.
Tofas are currently sitting just outside the playoffs with an 7-11 record (9th place). The side started the season strongly, sitting in the top-4 for the opening seven rounds of the season, however a 2-7 record heading into the FIBA break led management to look for more firepower from overseas.
Its anticipated Doyle will be the starting small forward for Tofas for the remaining 12 games of the season, alongside former NBA guard Tyler Ennis.
This will be Doyle second stint in the Turkish top league, after playing with Gaziantep Basketbol in 2021.
Will Magnay
Liga ACB (Spain) – Obradorio CAB (10-10 9th place)
Will Magnay’s successful returned to regular NBL play this season after a serious knee injury saw him sidelined for msot of last season and the beginning of the 22-23 campaign. His return to the court and improved play has been recognised with him being recruited by Spanish side Obradorio CAB, who play in the nations top league.
His stats don’t jump off the page, but athletic and agile 6’10” bigs are a rare commodity in world basketball. His rim protection, ability to change shots around the basket and provide screens is what would of attracted Obradorio to Magnay, as they push for a play-off position in the final 13 games of the season.
How much of a role Magnay will play is unclear. However, Obradorio have been on the search of big men after an injury to their top recruit Dragen Bender. The former forth pick in the 2016 NBA draft was having a strong season for Obradorio (17.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game) before injuring his ACL back in late December.
Since Bender went down, twenty-one year old Lithuanian NBA draft prospect Marek Blazevic (7.2 points and 4.1 rebounds) has since taken over the starting centre role, but has yet to really nail down the role. Magnay would likely be his main back up off the bench, but could push his way into starting minutes.
Rashard Kelly
Lithuanian Basketball League – BC Wolves (14-6 3rd)
The most recent JackJumper to sing overseas was Rashard Kelly, who is joing the BC Wolves, an expansion team in the Lithunaian Basketball league who play in the city of Vilnius.
In somewhat different circumstances to the other JackJumpers, Kelly’s new side are sitting nicely at 14-6 and looking for Kelly to help them hold its spot in the top four. Some roster changes in January has opened up a spot for Kelly but also former NBA player Jeffery Taylor.
Since arriving before the FIBA break Taylor has led the team in scoring (14.5 points per game). Kelly is expected to move to the starting power forward role, where he will be able to bring his energy and skill at both ends of the floor, as he did with the JJ’s all last season.
Most notably about the BC Wolves is that they coached by former Lituanion national team member turned supercoach Rimas Kurtinaitis, who NBL fans may rememberfrom the Townsville Crocodiles in 1993, and the first european import player signed in the NBL. Since moving to coaching in the early 2000’s Kurtinitus has won titles in Lithuania and Russia as well as three Eurocup titles.
We’ll keep an eye on their journeys as the seasons progresses. But we’ll shortly look ahead the the other JackJumpers movements in the offseason around NBL1.
