How New Zealand always nails its import signings

Successful import signings have been a cornerstone of New Zealand’s rise back into championship contention over the past two seasons under Mody Maor.

In NBL23 Jarrell Brantley, Barry Brown Jr and Dererk Pardon formed one of the greatest import trios in recent memory to lead the Breakers to the Championship Series. Then, last season, Zylan Cheatham, Anthony Lamb and Parker Jackson-Cartwright – while hit by injury – starred in Maor’s system.

Once again though, Maor has to go back to the well. The re-signing of Jackson-Cartwright to a one-year deal looks set to be one of the most important free agency deals this off-season, but the Breakers need to identify two further players that can help continue to elevate the program.

Clubs rarely nail their trio of imports, let alone in two straight seasons. Now, Maor is looking for a hat-trick of near-perfect international signings.

He discussed New Zealand’s import recruitment strategy on NBL Now.

“Let’s start with the fact it’s not just me, there is a group of people that work in this space and do really good work,” Maor said.

“The second part is there is a level of luck that is involved, every time you take a human being and you plop them into a different environment, there are going to be factors that are out of your control. 

“Maybe he hates the food, maybe he hates the weather, maybe he doesn’t get along with other people, it doesn’t matter -there are so many factors you don’t control. There is a level of luck that goes into it that I am definitely aware of. 

“Then there are a few things in our processes that, I think, serve us the right way. We have a very strong idea of how we want to play, we don’t just look for talent, we look for talent and fit. There are a bunch of different players we can look at in the off-season and say ‘man, he’s incredible, but not for us’ for different reasons.

“It can be basketball-wise, character-wise, work ethic-wise, et cetera. We have a clear identity of how we want to play, a really clear idea of how we want to be off the court, and a really clear idea of what are good traits that work with me and us and our environment.

“We’ve spent a really long time studying our players, studying them from a basketball standpoint, getting to know them as people and spending time with them, and all these things together with a little bit of luck at the end – we’re not steering away from this process.”

Towards the back end of NBL24 rumours started to swirl about a potential return to New Zealand for Pardon, who spent last season earning promotion to the top division of Japanese basketball with Altiri Chiba.

The 27-year-old was a Best Defensive Player nominee and All-NBL Second Team selection in his sole season with the club, and was reported to have been missing the NBL.

Maor says while the Breakers are pursuing an import who is of a similar mould to his former charge for next season, he doesn’t see a Pardon return as a likely scenario.

“As far as imports go, we’re probably going to go with a true five. Somebody more in the mould of Dererk Pardon from two years ago,” Maor said.

“Somebody that fits an open court style of play, fits with Parker, doesn’t necessarily stretch the floor.

“I love Dererk and I’d love to have Dererk. He has just had an incredible season in B.2, he was the best big in Japan and his team went up to B.1. The nature of that market and the financials in Japan make him not so relevant for us.

“I’m sure DP will hear this and he knows how much I love him. Listen, if you ever at any point miss living on the North Shore, man, you have a spot at home with us. Other than that, I’m really happy for him, his career progression and how he’s developed.”