The Adelaide 36ers lacklustre result last season has prompted the team to head in a new direction for 2020/21. The team sacked coach Connor Henry one season into the three-year deal he signed in 2020 and will replace him with NBL legend CJ Bruton.

CJ Bruton, who won six NBL titles as a player, will be named the team’s new head coach within the week and look to improve seventh-placed finish last season.

The coaching vacancy has generated quite a buzz on social media, with names like Andrew Gaze, Brett Brown and 36ers alumni like Phil Smyth, John Rillie and the legendary Brett Maher all being mentioned as potential candidates.

With Gaze and Smyth retired from coaching now, Rillie obligated to UC Santa Barbara, Brett Brown still collecting checks from the Philadelphia 76ers and Maher currently working with the Adelaide 36ers as a “Community Coach” those options weren’t really options, and Bruton was the only man to receive a contract offer from the team, one he was only too keen to accept.

Bruton has acted as an assistant coach to Andrej Lemanis at Brisbane since the Bullets’ NBL return in 2016. During that time, he has also coached Brisbane Spartans in the QBL.

Prior to COVID-19 Burton also got a taste of the NBA, acting as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors 2019 summer league squad.

Since Lemanis departed the Bullets, CJ has made it clear he wants to take the next step with coaching, and prior to accepting the role with the 36ers, he had interviews with Brisbane and Sydney for their head coaching roles but was looked over on both occasions.

It’s expected the team will announce CJ as the team’s new head coach within the next 48 hours so he can assist in the recruiting of the team’s final two roster spots.

The team are looking for an import big man who can play the power forward or centre spot as well as another local talent. It’s expected the team will look to sign one of the many fringe NBA players who will become available when the NBA makes its final roster cuts in the coming weeks.

Additionally, they have another roster spot for a local player, which the team have yet to decide upon, but it’s believed they are still interested in re-signing young forward Jack Purchase, and they have also trialled Donovan Mitchell, the son of former Brisbane Bullets import Mike in recent months also.

The remaining roster includes Daniel Johnson, Kai Soto, Sunday Dech, Isaac Humphries, Mitchell McCarron, Tad Dufelmeier Jr, Emmanuel Malou, Dusty Hannahs, Todd Withers and Mojave King (Next Star).