The South East Melbourne Phoenix lock in their championship intentions by signing Ian Clark for the rest of the season. Clark spent the last two seasons with Melbourne United where he averaged 13 points as their sixth man. The move meant that the Phoenix had to release Hunter Maldonado.

Clark’s return will mean it is his fifth season in the NBL. The midseason acquisition of Clark has now become a recurring occasion for teams with championship intentions. He was first recruited by the Sydney Kings in 2022 as the team went on to win the title at the end of the season. Clark was picked up midway through the 2022–23 season when the Adelaide 36ers intended to salvage their season from being a disaster but still missed the postseason by two losses. He then spent the entirety of the last two seasons with United as they made consecutive Grand Finals appearances but lost in both. With United looking for new options, Clark was left unsigned at the start of this season. It can now be seen that he was merely waiting to pounce on the team that needed an extra element of winning.

That team comes in the form of the Phoenix. With a 13–6 record, they sit in second place on the ladder. The Phoenix can see on the horizon the possibility of contention and the acquisition of Clark strengthens that consideration. The team had its difficulties with imports even before the start of the season with Omari Moore reneging his involvement and Vrenz Bleijenbergh being a 6’11” point guard fantasy. Instead, they started the season with only two imports in John Brown and Maldonado. The former quickly emerged as one of the most dominant defenders in the league while the latter had to have a defensive mindset while being widely regarded by the expert commentators around the league as the first import to be released. The Phoenix need not worry as they were led offensively by an in-his-prime-aged-35 Nathan Sobey experiencing a career-best performance. It allowed them to take their time in locating Wes Iwundu who came in to bolster their forward spot and also be content with Maldonado who provided enough as a defensive ball handler to maintain his place on the team. However, it has now come to that point in the season where teams either push down or ease up and the Phoenix symbolise their intentions with Clark.

Clark can best be defined by his work ethic and winning ethos. After winning three straight conference tournament championships with Belmont, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Utah Jazz and spent two seasons receiving limited minutes. Clark had a short stint with the Denver Nuggets in 2015 and then signed with the Golden State Warriors where he developed into a key rotational player. He was one of their reserves when the Warriors won the NBA championship in 2017. Clark then spent the last two seasons of his NBA career with the New Orleans Pelicans from 2017 to 2019. As a 6’3″ undrafted shooting guard, Clark appeared in 330 games and averaged 5.6 points per game.

The Phoenix are rolling as a deep team. They have six players with scoring averages in double figures and four of their players rank in the top ten for steals (Sobey, Brown, Malique Lewis and Owen Foxwell). Maldonado averaged 8.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists so it is only his scoring count where he is bested by Clark. This is a decision based on what Clark has shown throughout his career: his teams tend to win. The Phoenix intend to utilise some of that experience for the rest of the season.