Our look at signings in the NBL that took place over the last week. The Perth Wildcats were the most active with two new additions with a pair from the Adelaide 36ers and two other re-signings. Also, the Sydney Kings land the runner-up in Most Valuable Player voting from last season.

1. Kendric Davis to Sydney Kings
2. Sunday Dech to Perth Wildcats
3. Lat Mayen to Perth Wildcats
4. David Okwera re-signs with Perth Wildcats
5. Dylan Windler re-signs with Perth Wildcats
6. Team overviews

Kendric Davis to Sydney Kings

Position: Guard
From: Adelaide 36ers (NBL)
2024–25 statistics: 25.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 0.2 blocks, 1.3 steals, 48.7% field goal, 37.5% three-point, 80.8% free throw

The Sydney Kings add one of the top free agent candidates in Kendric Davis who was the runner-up in Most Valuable Player voting while playing for the Adelaide 36ers last season. It was perhaps the most impressive first season by an import in the league in recent memory and he earned consistent comparisons to Bryce Cotton who ultimately won the MVP award. Davis helped lead the 36ers to their first appearance in the postseason since 2018. He finished among the league leaders in multiple categories: second in scoring, first in assists and second in free throws. It was an incredible showing by Davis who was only in his second season as a professional after a five-year collegiate career and one season with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. This was accomplished throughout a chaotic season with the 36ers which included frequent clashes with head coach Mike Wells. Davis now departs for the Kings where he joins Xavier Cooks and Matthew Dellavedova under head coach Brian Goorjian to form what should be a genuine superteam. Dellavedova was a firm advocate in teaming up with Davis; he suggested to him that their collaboration would be the equivalent of what Dellavedova accomplished alongside Kyrie Irving during their time on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA. It will be fascinating to see Davis’ adjustment; he was the consistent ball handler with the 36ers but will now be shifted to an off-ball position with Dellavedova running point. Will the experiment work? Davis the offensive firepower to suggest that it should.

Sunday Dech to Perth Wildcats

Position: Guard
From: Adelaide 36ers (NBL)
2024–25 statistics: 5.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 38.7% field goal, 38.1% three-point, 75.0% free throw

Sunday Dech leaves the Adelaide 36ers after five years of service to reunite with the Perth Wildcats for his third tenure with his hometown team. He has been a casualty of role inconsistency at the 36ers; his five years saw four head coaches who all had various conceptions of how best to utilise his exceptional defensive abilities but occasional offensive shortcomings. Dech has been one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders since emerging as a genuine starter with the Illawarra Hawks during the 2019–20 season. His role is likely to be more reliable on the Perth Wildcats as they build beyond the departure of Cotton. With the likelihood of an import point guard alongside their existing import signings of forwards Dylan Windler and Kristian Doolittle, Dech could be their starting shooting guard or the sixth man. Expect him to engage in more of a leadership role as well; his NBL experience on the Wildcats is second only to longtime stalwart Jesse Wagstaff.

Lat Mayen to Perth Wildcats

Position: Forward
From: Adelaide 36ers (NBL)
2024–25 statistics: 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 44.6% field goal, 36.2% three-point, 80.0% free throw

Lat Mayen follows his Adelaide 36ers and South Sudanese teammate Dech to the Perth Wildcats. It was a season of disparity for Mayen during his one year with the 36ers; he scored a season-high 23 points in the opening game of the season and then had fallen completely out of the team’s rotation only two months later. He returned as a regular starter in December and then stayed in that role for the rest of the season. Will any sense of regularity equate with Mayen’s consistency? We will see how his abilities are utilised on the Wildcats.

David Okwera re-signs with Perth Wildcats

Position: Forward
2024–25 statistics: 3.0 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 43.1% field goal, 33.3% three-point, 87.5% free throw

David Okwera returns for his third season with his hometown Perth Wildcats. He saw his role increase with the Wildcats last season and was even utilised as a starter. It is likely that his role will continue to evolve this upcoming season with the departure of Keanu Pinder.

Dylan Windler re-signs with Perth Wildcats

Position: Forward
2024–25 statistics: 12.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 46.3% field goal, 39.2% three-point, 86.0% free throw

The Wildcats attempt to maintain as much other stability as possible with the departure of Cotton and re-sign their second import Dylan Windler after Kristian Doolittle was re-enlisted last month. Windler was already a great addition after five seasons in the NBA with multiple teams but is now coming back for his second season. That familiarisation with the league should bear fruitful as Doolittle increased his numbers across the board in what was his second season. Windler already has showcased what he can do with his rebounding and shotmaking; are there more assets of his game to be discovered?

Team overviews

G: Guard / F: Forward / C: Center / I: Import / DP: Development Player

Adelaide 36ers
G: Flynn Cameron, Michael Harris, Keanu Rasmussen, Dejan Vasiljevic, Isaac White
C: Ben Griscti, Isaac Humphries
Needs: Import point guard, two import forwards, general stability

Brisbane Bullets
G: James Batemon (I), Sam McDaniel, Taine Murray, Mitch Norton
F: Casey Prather (I), Tohi Smith-Milner
C: Tyrell Harrison
DP: G Tristan Devers, G Kye Savage
Needs: Import guard/forward, local back-up center

Cairns Taipans
G: Kyle Adnam, Kody Stattman
F: Kyrin Galloway, Alex Higgins-Titsha, Sam Waardenburg
Needs: Everything but also: import guard, import forward, import center, local guard, local center

Illawarra Hawks
G: Tyler Harvey (I), William Hickey, Lee Hyunjung
F: Todd Blanchfield, Daniel Grida, Lachlan Olbrich, Mason Peatling, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk
DP: G Kobe McDowell-White, G Luca Yates
Needs: Return of F Sam Froling and G Trey Kell III (I), Gary Clark/Darius Days-type import forward, retaining Justin Tatum

Melbourne United
G: Dash Daniels, Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, Tanner Krebs, Tom Wilson
F: Kyle Bowen, Fabijan Krslovic
Needs: Import center, back-up shooting guard, local center

New Zealand Breakers
G: Taylor Britt, Izayah Le’afa, Mitch McCarron
F: Sean Bairstow, Max Darling, Karim López, Reuben Te Rangi
C: Tacko Fall (I), Robert Loe, Sam Mennenga
DP: G Kaia Isaac, G Alex McNaught
Needs: Import point guard, import shooting guard

Perth Wildcats
G: Sunday Dech, Elijah Pepper, Dontae Russo-Nance
F: Kristian Doolittle (I), Lat Mayen, David Okwera, Jesse Wagstaff, Dylan Windler (I)
DP: F Thomas Gerovich, F Cameron Huefner
Needs: Bryce Cotton clone / import point guard, local point guard, local center

South East Melbourne Phoenix
G: Owen Foxwell, Angus Glover, Nathan Sobey
F: Akech Aliir
C: Jordan Hunter
Needs: Import point guard, import small forward, import power forward, local center, local forward

Sydney Kings
G: Shaun Bruce, Kendric Davis (I), Matthew Dellavedova, Tyler Robertson
F: Xavier Cooks, Jaylin Galloway, Bul Kuol, Keli Leaupepe, Kouat Noi
C: Jason Spurgin
DP: F Klairus Amir
Needs: A return to 48-minute games so the quality of players receive enough minutes, local center, emergence of Spurgin

Tasmania JackJumpers
G: Ben Ayre, Sean Macdonald
F: Josh Bannan, Walter Brown, Majok Deng, Anthony Drmic, Nick Marshall
C: Will Magnay
DP: G Brody Nunn, F Archie Woodhill
Needs: Import point guard, return of Milton Doyle, back-up center, injury-free Sean Macdonald