Basketball New Zealand

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NZ Tall Black forward Craig Bradshaw (Photosport)

Gary Birkett, Sunday Star Times

NZ Tall Blacks forward Craig Bradshaw will become the No 1 target for the New Zealand Breakers if not drafted by an NBA franchise on June 28.

Breakers head coach Andrej Lemanis spoke with Bradshaw last week in the United States and promised the 23-year-old, who averaged 13.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in his final year at Winthrop University, that they would keep the power forward import spot open until they knew if Bradshaw was going to make the NBA or be signed by a European club.

“He’s got his NBA aspirations and we wish him every success on that. But I spoke to him about coming back and being a Breaker. He wasn’t opposed to the idea and we agreed to continue to communicate and see where it goes. I told him we would not move on the extra (forward) import spot until we know what his movements are – if he wants to come back we want him and would do whatever we can to get him here.”

Bradshaw would probably command about $160,000 a season at the Breakers.

The Wellington-raised forward is rated 17th among the top 20 US college power forwards this year, but such is the competition could miss being drafted and would then be a target for a European club.

Lemanis confirmed they have also talked to Tall Blacks shooting guard Kirk Penney, 26, currently playing for Alba Berlin in Germany.

“Kirk is starting to hit that time in his career when he’s thinking about coming back here. He might stay in Germany for another year and told me he’s enjoying it which is unfortunate for us. I’d love to get him in the squad.”

The Australian national league has a salary cap $NZ700,000, a limit which makes it hard to compete financially on the world stage. A case in point is last season’s Breakers MVP, exciting American import Carlos Powell, who signed a short-term contract with a Ukraine club to finish the European season.

“Carlos is earning ridiculous money -if the sums are true he earned more in a month-and-a-half than he did in our entire season,” said Lemanis.

“He’s getting big, big dollars – from what we are told by his agent he’s got big European offers sitting on the table for next season.”

The network of contacts built up with scouts in the US could prove invaluable if Bradshaw doesn’t return home, with the Breakers chasing a top-class point guard and power forward. “The guys who scout for a living have a good handle on players and it’s a great place to meet coaches from European clubs. We now have access to people who know the players in Europe… sources there who can give you an independent evaluation on players you might be interested in.” The Breakers now play a waiting game to see who is available after the NBA draft.

Lemanis confirmed that Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron, who has been courted by new franchise the Gold Coast Blaze, who signed Tall Blacks forward Casey Frank last week, was not in the hunt for a Breakers spot.

“We were told that Pero had signed in Iran again and then the Gold Coast came in.”

Lemanis rejected claims that assistant coach John Dorge was dumped at the end of last season after the pair fell out.

He said North Harbour Heat NBL coach Dorge had left for family reasons.

“I’ve got no problem with John, he did good job for us and we wanted to keep him. If he was available in the future I would welcome him back.”

A new Breakers assistant coach will be unveiled by the end of May.