A trade window opens tomorrow night.
It is a first for the National Basketball League and it has been getting some good plugs on the social websites.
How many teams will utilise the option to trade players is unclear, though.
It is going to be difficult to make a trade stick given some of the restrictions in place. More on that later.
But what it provides the teams is the space to have a hard look at the mix of their side and whether they have the personnel to deliver a championship.
The Otago Nuggets are coming off their worst performance this season. Their 70-69 loss to the Whai in Tauranga on Wednesday night was horrific.
And by horrific we mean the Nuggets, who play the Hawke’s Bay Hawks in Napier this afternoon, landed just eight of their 17 attempts from the free throw and just three of the 19 three-point attempts.
It was not just a bad night, it opened up a worm hole to where misgivings go to multiply.
Doubt works in the same way as compound interest. Niggles grow into bigger problems and bigger problems balloon into impossible hurdles.
And the Nuggets have some niggles.
The import mix is not right.
Kimani Lawrence provides the batteries which run the team and the American is excellent at getting to the hoop where he is a first class finisher. He also supplies some much needed support in the paint for centre Jack Andrew, who is still finding his way as a starter and is often outmatched.
Lawrence is a keeper but he cannot shoot.
You have to feel for him. He had a biceps injury which was not managed well and he lost some mobility and/or muscle memory.
You just have to watch him shoot a free throw to realise the mental anguish he has to go through at the charity stripe. It is torture. He stuck one from eight against the Whai.
The Nuggets can overcome that limitation if they are hitting their shots from the outside. But they are not.
Fellow American Zaccheus Darko-Kelly arrived in Dunedin with the reputation as a quality marksman but his radar has been astray.
His success rate of 27.3% from beyond the arc does not match his billing as an elite shooter.
And his ball handling has been disappointing as well.
He has shown flashes of his potential. His 27 point haul in the upset win against the Wellington Saints was a performance more fitting of his curriculum vitae.
But the Nuggets, who have slipped to 4-4, need more consistency from him because they cannot afford to carry an outside shooter who is not connecting.
Ben Henshall has had more success from out wide. But it is hard to escape the feeling the Nuggets have overloaded the 19-year-old Australian.
He is a good shot creator but he needs space to operate and he is not getting as much of that as he was earlier in the tournament.
Tai Webster is instrumental in helping stretch the defence. His pace and ability to get to the rim is a real asset.
But he has been like Dan Carter one week and Dan Hollinshead the next.
Hollinshead is a handy rugby player. Carter is in the Hall of Fame.
Trades are not going to be easy to make.
For a start, everyone has to agree. The player must be happy with the trade. The teams have to be happy. The player’s contract has to be honoured or improved.
An independent panel must sign-off on all the trades as well.
The same number of players must be traded between teams, so you cannot swap one for two. The roster sizes must remain at 12.
Reports from the grapevine suggest the Nuggets are going to make do with what they have and will not be active during the trade window.
That would be a shame.
NBL
Napier, 4pm
Otago Nuggets: Tai Webster, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly, Ben Henshall, Kimani Lawrence, Jack Andrew, Darcy Knox, Robbie Coman, Josh Aitcheson, Matthew Bardsley, Dontae Russo-Nance, Matt Pyper, Caleb Smiler.
Hawke’s Bay Hawks: Isaiah Moore, Jordan Ngatai, Keanu Rasmussen, Joshua Roberts, Lucas Sutherland, Kobe Kara, Tommy Ferguson, Jackson Ball, Jacob Murphy, Tanae Lavery, Balin Casson, Zoram Smiler.
