Every team's big question going into the 2024 NBL Blitz

GOLD COAST, Australia -- There's a lot one can achieve at the NBL Blitz.

For the general NBL fan, it's the chance to see every team in the one setting over the course of a week - September 7-14 - which is a rare opportunity on the league's calendar. If you're one of the 22 NBA scouts and executives, representing 22 teams , the Blitz is one of the most unique opportunities on the scouting calendar: to descend onto the Gold Coast and evaluate the best talent, Next Stars or otherwise, playing in Australia.

More importantly, though, there's what teams can achieve. Some have played multiple preseason games, while others have played none. This week is the perfect opportunity to continue to build chemistry and get important reps into key players.

There are also teams still figuring themselves out, and searching for an identity, and that's the thing that's most worth exploring. What questions will the Blitz answer? Here's an idea of what every team should be asking.

Adelaide 36ers - They'll face defensive questions... but can the offence become cohesive?

Mike Wells was quite sensationally appointed head coach less than a month ago , so the 36ers will naturally enter the Blitz with more questions than most.

There'll be an ongoing question on how they guard in the backcourt, and whether they have the depth to really challenge the projected top teams in the league, but the Blitz should provide an important opportunity to create some cohesion offensively.

Kendric Davis is talented, but the 36ers are forced to lean into a specific type of play when he's the primary ball carrier. Bulk Davis possessions naturally diminishes the on-ball creation opportunities for Dejan Vasiljevic, who's really effective with the ball in his hands. It also limits the 36ers' ability to consistently operate through Isaac Humphries in the post; the Australian big-man, of course, is one of the league's most potent threats down low.

There's a world where the skillsets can mesh. We can't forget that Vasiljevic is an elite spot-up shooter and Humphries is a high-level roller, so those are theoretically complementary to what Davis brings to the table, and presumably what the vision was when this team was put together.

The goal for the 36ers, though, will be to find the balance and maximise everyone's skillset -- their fringe Boomers-level players, in particular -- and, with a new head coach and only one preseason game under their belts going into the Blitz, there could be some teething as they hunt for that ultimate cohesion.

Brisbane Bullets - Will the import wings provide the requisite scoring punch?

The Bullets showed some growth last season, but one thing that consistently escaped them was the ability to consistently score the ball.

By the end of the season, Justin Schueller's team finished in the bottom-four in offensive efficiency, with the three-ball deserting them and the eye test indicating issues with shot quality.

They went into the offseason looking to remedy that: to find upgrades for Shannon Scott and Chris Smith. Casey Prather returned, while the team brought in James Batemon and Keandre Cook.

From what we've seen thus far, Batemon is projecting as a reasonable point guard recruit, and has particularly looked impressive as a shot-maker off the dribble. Keandre Cook came in with a reputation as a shooter, but has yet to really exhibit that at a high level. Prather has been dealing with a hamstring injury over the preseason, and there's some hope he'll suit up at the Blitz.

There's a general level of confidence that the Bullets will get another solid offensive season from Sam McDaniel, and an improved shooting season from Isaac White. The preseason emergence of Deng Adel -- particularly as a creator -- is also an added boost to this Bullets team that needs offensive weapons.

The ceiling of the Bullets, though, lies with their Americans; particularly the two wing imports. The Blitz is an ideal setting for Cook and Prather to showcase what they can do as scoring threats and, between the glimpses of creation from Batemon and Adel, as well as the crowd Tyrell Harrison will draw as a post threat, those wings should get good looks relatively consistently.

If they don't demonstrate that at the Blitz, then there's a reasonable argument for the Bullets to just lean more fully into a capable local contingent.

Cairns Taipans - How big will Taran Armstrong's leap be?

Adam Forde will be unapologetic that this Taipans team has been built around Taran Armstrong.

The 22-year-old point guard will be the head of the snake -- the pun, unbelievably intended -- in his second year as a pro, with the Taipans recruiting pieces complementary to him. Rob Edwards and Pedro Bradshaw are scoring wings who can fill the lanes, while there's a good mixture of shooting and high-level rolling from the bigs: Sam Waardenburg, Tanner Groves, Kyrin Galloway, and Akoldah Gak.

Armstrong had some understandable teething to start last season, but we eventually saw glimpses of him finding his groove. This team should have the capacity to play fast and really widen the floor for a creative, pass-first point guard like Armstrong to operate. And so, it's not unreasonable to say that the Taipans go as Armstrong goes.

If he's undergone a sizable development leap over the offseason -- improving his body, as well as his ability to shoot the ball -- then the idea of this 6'6 point guard surrounded by some potent offensive threats can be an effective NBL team. There's no Patrick Miller or Tahjere McCall to steal those on-ball reps, so there's an immense opportunity for Armstrong here, and the Blitz should give us a glimpse of how prepared he is to take it.

Illawarra Hawks - Can they expedite preparation?

There's a chance the Illawarra Hawks are slightly underdone heading into the Blitz.

Head coach Justin Tatum only returned to Wollongong less than a month ago, they signed their final import less than a week ago, and the team has only played one preseason game against the Shanghai Sharks.

There's some level of continuity with the roster -- and there's reason to be very high on the Darius Days signing -- but this was Tatum's first opportunity, with a largely new staff, to have his team through a preseason, and they've added two new high-usage imports.

The Hawks have one of the harder Blitz schedules, too. They open the tournament with a matchup with the South East Melbourne Phoenix, before facing the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United. The feeling is that the players are competing with the requisite work-rate to prepare for the season, but time is running out to build chemistry and connection ahead of the regular season, and there's a chance we see a stark difference between what we see from them and, say, United, from a preparedness standpoint.

Melbourne United - What does the White/Travers swap look like?

When Luke Travers signed with United last season, the hope was that he would emulate what Jack White brought to the team a few years prior: that athletic, versatile defender who can be a connector on the other end.

Well, now Travers is on a two-way with the Cleveland Cavaliers and White -- coming off his own NBA two-way journey -- is back with United ; the pair of forwards effectively trading places. They're similar players, but there's a very reasonable argument that this is an upgrade for United. That's largely because of White's age -- he's four years older -- where he'd theoretically be a more refined player.

White and Travers have some similarities, but also stark differences. What Travers brought with his awkward athleticism and offensive connectivity, will now be replaced by White's more powerful physical features and ability to hit from downtown with more consistency. United was a quarter away from a championship, so the Travers part of the recipe practically worked. Will White's?

The opportunity will be there for White. There's no ball-dominant big-man like Jo-Lual Acuil Jr. out there; instead, United's two bigs are complementary-type players. The faint MVP hype for White is because he's ostensibly returning to the NBL with a more refined game and improved jumper, and he's the only real offensive threat this team has in the front court. He'll get his chance to flourish offensively, so it's just a question on whether he's able to make the most of it.

New Zealand Breakers - Will Parker have enough help?

The general rule of thumb is to not put too much stock into preseason games. That's unless you lose back-to-back games to the same team by 30+ points. It's difficult to not hear some faint alarm bells at least.

The known commodity on the Breakers is Parker Jackson-Cartwright, and it's reasonable to project another high, high-level season from the crafty point guard. The Blitz will be where we see strong indicators on if the Breakers have nailed all three imports for the third season in a row. That's a tough thing to do, and there's no certainty that Matt Mooney and Freddie Gillespie are going to be as effective as the Breakers need him to be.

The Breakers also need leaps from Jonah Bolden, Sam Mennenga, Mojave King, Mitch McCarron, and Grant Anticevich; teams will force the ball out of Jackson-Cartwright's hands, so that local contingent will get a considerable amount of opportunity to score the ball. The Breakers' Next Star is 17 years old, so is unlikely to provide consistent impact, so, while the best reading of their first two preseason games can be that it was against a stacked Sydney Kings team, the Blitz will be a more accurate barometer of what the talent around Jackson-Cartwright is like, and how much they can lift the floor of this team.

The Breakers are going out there with a rookie head coach in Petteri Koponen and an NBA-interrupted opening to the season, so they'll be hoping the signs are positive throughout the Blitz, otherwise they'll be unbelievably behind the eight ball.

Perth Wildcats - Who wins the minutes at the four spot?

Danny Mills loves a power forward.

And this is a John Rillie team, so there's only so many minutes available.

Let's look at their crop of four-men. Kristian Doolittle was a shrewd re-signing, as one of the best defenders in the league. Hyrum Harris really showed his worth throughout last season. Izan Almansa will split his time between the four and five, and is likely to be an impact player for this team. Then, there's Jesse Wagstaff returning for another season in Perth, and David Okwera going into the second season of a three-year deal.

That's five guys, and we haven't even mentioned that one of the best options at the four for the Wildcats may well end up being Dylan Windler when he slides up.

There are several quality options for Rillie to tap into at the four-spot, and it's tough to see more than three of the aforementioned quintet getting any sizable run. Rillie is tight with his rotations at the best of times, so the Blitz will be an opportunity to see who rises to the top of that depth chart.

South East Melbourne Phoenix - What do the non-Hunter minutes look like?

Barring injuries and a complete, unexpected collapse, the Phoenix should, at the very least, be an extremely potent offensive team.

We'll need to see what Derrick Walton Jr. and Nathan Sobey look like alongside each other as two ball-dominant guards, as well as how consistent Joe Wieskamp can be as a scorer in this league, but what this team looks like when Jordan Hunter isn't on the floor may be their biggest question.

When he's on the floor, Hunter projects as arguably this team's most important player. The big-man is the anchor for a team that may be shaky defensively early on, and is really the only inside presence in the frontcourt.

What this team looks like with Hunter off the floor is a big question mark. Majok Majok is the only other true centre on the roster, but the preference as a backup five is Matt Hurt and, while they should be potent with a big who can legitimately stretch the floor, there's the potential for major issues defensively.

Hurt has been sidelined with a minor pinkie injury -- he dislocated it in a practice in late August -- so we haven't seen him hit the floor yet, but the Blitz will be his opportunity to show he can be an effective backup option at the five.

Sydney Kings - What are the most effective frontcourt combinations?

The name of the game for the Kings this coming season will be positional versatility.

We're likely to see Brian Goorjian experiment with a host of different combinations on the floor; that's the luxury of having a talent like Xavier Cooks as a high-level creator, and a plethora of athletic wings (Chris Pongrass loves an athletic wing).

Where there's likely to be the most experimentation is with the frontcourt. On paper, it seems obvious that Cooks and Cam Oliver should start at the four and five, but, in the one preseason game we've seen, it was Keli Leaupepe who opened the game at the centre spot. Now, that was likely to make sure Oliver got some meaningful reps in that game, but it speaks to how this team may chop and change their frontcourt.

Leaupepe brings a defensive versatility and has shown the ability to stretch the floor, so, while undersized, the fit next to Cooks does make sense. With the potent offensive weapons Sydney already has, there's an argument for Oliver -- who, of course, has the capacity of a high-level starter in the NBL -- coming off the bench and being the primary offensive target for the second unit.

The easy bet, and ultimately the likely most effective strategy, is going with the more talented duo of Cooks and Oliver -- and the latter's ability to shoot the ball makes that a dangerous frontcourt -- but the Kings have the flexibility to be creative. That also means Cooks probably playing some minutes at the five, with the Kings able to fill the 2-4 spots with whatever selection of their smattering of wings. Think of a Kuol-Toohey-Cooks frontcourt, or Galloway-Kuol-Cooks. Pick your combination. What they'd give up in size, they make up for in athleticism, defensive capacity, with the requisite ability to shoot the ball.

The Blitz will be a good time to experiment with lineups. We may not get a definite answer of what Goorjian's preference in the frontcourt is, but we should get some indicators.

Tasmania JackJumpers - Where do they turn to fill the McVeigh production hole?

We can have two thoughts at once here.

The JackJumpers still have the skeleton of their championship-winning team from last season, so any talk of a swift demise is unfounded. At the same time, Jack McVeigh was their best local player and a high-output guy on the offensive end, so the team's ceiling is absolutely lower unless they find ways to fill that gap in production.

So, where does it come from?

Majok Deng really flourished toward the end of last season, so he can slot in relatively seamlessly in that position and pick up some of that production. Of course, an uptick in attempts from the usual suspects -- Milton Doyle and Jordon Crawford -- is expected, as well as perhaps a leap from Will Magnay.

If there's a bet on someone who can emerge as a more consistent scoring threat than he's historically been for the JackJumpers, then Sean Macdonald is one to keep an eye on. The guard has improved at an impressive rate over the last few seasons, and earned a starting spot in Game 5 of the most recent Championship Series; he's an extremely effective spot-up shooter and has improved beyond measure as an off-the-dribble scorer, so he should be primed to pick up some of the slack.

We should see early in the Blitz who picks up where McVeigh left off.