Andrew Bogut signing sparks global interest in joining Sydney Kings
TO understand Andrew Bogut’s significant pulling power for the Sydney Kings, you had to be in the club’s offices this week when small forward Todd Blanchfield requested a release.
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TO understand Andrew Bogut’s significant pulling power for the Sydney Kings, you had to be in the club’s offices this week when small forward Todd Blanchfield requested a release.
Only minutes after Blanchfield’s release was announced, the Kings were inundated with expressions of interest from across the world.
Sydney are always busy during the free-agency period, but thanks largely to Bogut the player inquiries via phone and email have more than doubled.
Of particular note, the Kings also received rare interest from the big-dollar European market.
“That’s the Andrew Bogut factor,” Sydney Kings managing director Jeff Van Groningen said about the influence of Bogut, the 13-season NBA veteran who won a championship with Golden State in 2015.
“Normally the European agents stick with Europe because they are paid very well as locals, but we’ve had agents put forward players as import options.
“We’ve had a number of European agents offer up Greek and Italian players keen to play in Australia.
“It is usually American players that are shopped heavily to you at this time of the year, but this year it has been a lot more widespread.
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“Obviously Bogut’s reach is widespread and global, but I also put a lot of that down to the sheer strength of roster.
“It has been quite humbling and overwhelming to hear from some people about their interest.
“We take that as a sign of respect for the league and the team.”
The Kings still have two import roster spots to fill, while they also have positions free for local players.
Van Groningen stressed he was in no rush to finalise the team, saying he plans to attend the annual NBA Summer League in Las Vegas from July 6-17.
“The NBA Summer League has been a good guide in the past and that is still a couple of months away,” he said.
“We might not be making our final decisions on the roster for some time.
“But we still have two import spots available and some Australian spots, so it is going to be a really interesting period of time.”
Bogut’s historic signing has also resulted in high membership and corporate interest.
Since opening 2018-2019 season memberships to the public on May 1, the Kings have been flooded with applications.
The club is currently analysing the data and are expected to announce results in the coming weeks.