Despite starting in today’s game against the Sydney, putting up 11 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in 25 minutes it was revealed the Adelaide 36ers will part ways with import Adris De Leon after suffering a 12 points loss to the Kings, their fourth in a row.
Despite being a longtime favourite of 36ers coach Joey Wright the team’s recent slump, combined with a calf injury to fellow import Ramone Moore led to the Sixers telling De Leon on Friday that if the team couldn’t turn things around with a win over Sydney they were would look at rejigging the team’s roster.
Ironically the Kings started the season poorly, losing their first two games of the season to none other than the Adelaide 36ers. Since then Adelaide have lost five of their last six games in contrast to Sydney, who have gone 4-1 since back-to-back Adelaide losses in rounds one and two.
Wright was originally responsible for bringing De Leon out to Australia in 2011 as then coach of the Gold Coast Blaze. With the release of the man formerly known as “2 hard 2 guard” it’s expected that Adelaide will look to secure a high-scoring guard as his replacement.
De Leon will head home to his native Dominican Republic, likely to pick up a contract to in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto (LNB), the premier basketball league in the Dominican Republic, which also plays during the summer. The 36ers are expected to make a mid-week announcement on his replacement and when he will be joining the team.
De Leon was averaging 7.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists and ironically he posted his best game, a 21 point, 6 assist effort against the Kings on October 19th. Those numbers, however, were nowhere near the 16 point, 4 rebounds and 2 assists he averaged while playing for the Gold Coast Blaze (2011) and Illawarra Hawks (2012).
A potential replacement for De Leon could be former import Kenyon McNeail who was a part of the team in 2015. McNeail had an incredible pre-season at the 2015 NBL Blitz, averaging 17.5 points per game but after suffering a serious shoulder injury the point guard was a shadow of his former self. He was only able to average a mere four points per game across three NBL games before it was apparent that his injured shoulder was not responding to treatment and he was released.
McNeail, the all-time leading three-point shooter at Louisiana Tech, definitely fits the bill of a high-scoring guard such as the one alluded to being De Leon’s replacement.
Another name floating about is former Illawarra Hawk Demitrius Conger. Conger averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal last season and as a result, finished second in league MVP voting and earned a mention on the All-NBL First Team.
Conger had shown interest in returning to the NBL at the conclusion of last season but when he asked Illawarra for more money than they can afford he was shown the door in Wollongong and although Melbourne and Perth both were in talking figures with 198cm small forward they too decided to go in a different direction.
Conger has since been playing in the Spanish Liga ACB with Joventut Badalona and French club Le Mans Sarthe Basket.
Adelaide’s next game is against the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday the 17th. It is unknown if they will be able to clear De Leon’s replacement in time for that game.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
