Melbourne United hunting import cover for gun swingman Casey Prather
With Casey Prather’s horror season forcing him onto the long-term injury, Melbourne United is now on the hunt for a replacement import who can somehow live up to the three-time champion’s lofty standards.
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Melbourne United has begun the search for an injury replacement for luckless star Casey Prather.
Prather, a triple NBL championship winner including United’s landmark 2017-18 title, is slated to miss up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
United is on the lookout for a ready-made small forward/power forward available immediately.
It is Prather’s third injury setback this season alone, following knee and back issues, and follows an 18-month posting in Europe wrecked by injury.
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Prather, 28, has managed only limited minutes in six of 16 United games this season.
Coach Dean Vickerman has United clinging to third in the standings despite not yet having been able to assemble a healthy roster, with Prather, Alex Pledger (ankle) and Shea Ili (calf) the casualties.
“With all the injuries we’ve had, the group dynamic has changed a fair bit but people are starting to carve out defined roles, that best help us win,” Vickerman said.
“We’ve had one good run of six games this season, with the rest being up and down – a good game is followed by a bad one, we haven’t really got going yet.
“If we want to get to where we want to as a group, we need to start producing the way I know we are capable of, regardless of who we have out on the floor.”
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It is not unfamiliar territory for United, who plucked ex-Cleveland Cavalier Carrick Felix from relative obscurity in the 2018 championship run while Prather rehabbed a dislocated elbow.
Prather returned on the cusp of the playoffs, helping United clinch its first title since a historic rebrand.
Felix, who slotted in seamlessly on and off the court, remained with the team in a support/training squad capacity through the playoffs.
Under strict NBL rules injury replacements must be released as soon as the originally rostered player is medically cleared.
United will travel to Perth this week to take on the resurgent Wildcats, riding a four-win streak.
Originally published as Melbourne United hunting import cover for gun swingman Casey Prather