Liam Judd
August 8, 2025
Alex McNaught
- Nationality: NZL
- Date of Birth: 21/06/02
- Place of Birth: Auckland (New Zealand)
- Position: GRD
- Height (CM): 185
- Weight (KG): 90
- Junior Assoc: NZ - Auckland
- College:
- NBL DEBUT: 15/10/22
- AGE AT DEBUT: 20
- LAST NBL GAME: 19/02/26
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 23
- NBL History: New Zealand 2023-26
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Alex McNaught was born in Auckland (New Zealand).
NBL EXPERIENCE
Alex McNaught made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 20 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.
A 5-23 campaign and two seasons spent largely in Australia led New Zealand into a major rebuild, with Mody Maor replacing Dan Shamir as head coach and adding Tom Vodanovich (via Sydney), Izayah Le’Afa and Cameron Gliddon (both via South East Melbourne), Dererk Pardon, Jarrell Brantley, Barry Brown Jr, Daniel Fotu and Next Star Rayan Rupert.
A lifelong Breakers supporter and season-ticket holder only two years earlier, Alex McNaught signed a two-year deal as a development player after playing for the Nelson Giants. McNaught (12 games) made 10 regular-season appearances and played twice during the semifinals, remaining behind McDowell-White, Le’Afa, Brown Jr and Gliddon in New Zealand’s backcourt rotation.
His NBL debut came against South East Melbourne at John Cain Arena on October 15, where McNaught (2 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, and 1 block) played 13 minutes with Thomas Abercrombie unavailable and helped New Zealand record its first win in Melbourne in four years. Loe (18 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 block) and Le’Afa (14 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 steals) led the Breakers to an 85-77 victory, while Mitch Creek (20 points and 4 rebounds) led the Phoenix, with Maor later saying New Zealand could not have won without McNaught’s contribution.
His best scoring game came five days later against South East Melbourne at the Trusts Arena, where McNaught (7 points and 2 rebounds) made two of three field-goal attempts and his only three-pointer during 12 minutes. Brantley (17 points and 4 rebounds) and Pardon (16 points and 5 rebounds) led New Zealand, while Kyle Adnam (17 points) helped the Phoenix win 99-77.
McNaught (0 points and 1 rebound) played the final 1:21 of New Zealand’s 88-68 semifinal-opening victory over Tasmania, where Pardon (15 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks) and McDowell-White (13 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists) led the Breakers, while Rashard Kelly (12 points and 4 rebounds) was Tasmania’s leading scorer.
The deciding semifinal returned to Spark Arena, where McNaught (0 points) played the final 52 seconds as Brown Jr (32 points and 3 steals), Pardon (15 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 steals) and Brantley (14 points and 7 rebounds) led New Zealand to a 92-77 victory. Jack McVeigh (22 points and 7 rebounds) led Tasmania as the Breakers reached their first Championship Series since 2016, where McNaught did not take the court during the five-game loss to Sydney.
2023/24
Following its run to the previous season’s Championship Series, New Zealand retained Alex McNaught alongside William McDowell-White, Cameron Gliddon, Izayah Le’Afa and captain Thomas Abercrombie. Head coach Mody Maor added Finn Delany (via Bonn), Mangok Mathiang (via Hapoel Eilat), Dane Pineau (via South East Melbourne), Mantas Rubstavicius (via Lietkabelis), Parker Jackson-Cartwright (via Besiktas), Zylan Cheatham (via Bayern Munich) and Justinian Jessup (via Zaragoza) after Barry Brown Jr., Jarrell Brantley and Dererk Pardon departed.
McNaught signed a three-year extension to his development player contract before the season. “My goal with this new contract extension is to try and cement my place in the team and make consistent minutes,” says McNaught.
“With Mody showing his trust by offering me this extension, I know I will make leaps and bounds in the future.”
His most substantial appearance came against Cairns on December 15, where McNaught (0 points and 1 assist) played 1:23 as New Zealand won 111-82. Lamb (29 points and 8 rebounds) and Rubstavicius (21 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the Breakers, while Taran Armstrong (15 points and 4 assists) was Cairns’ leading scorer.
McNaught (0 points across 3 games) remained at the end of the rotation as New Zealand finished sixth at 13-15. He did not take the court as the Breakers eliminated Sydney 83-76 before Illawarra ended their season with an 88-85 victory.
2024/25
New Zealand entered the off-season after finishing sixth with a 13-15 record, defeating Sydney 83-76 in the first play-in game before an 88-85 loss to Illawarra ended its season. Anthony Lamb (to Trento), William McDowell-White (to Berlin), Izayah Le’Afa (to Sydney), Justinian Jessup (to Ulm), Finn Delany (to Shizuoka), Mantas Rubstavicius (to Panevezys), Zylan Cheatham (to Nagoya), Mangok Mathiang (to Ramat Gan), Dan Fotu and Dom Kelman-Poto exited the team, while Thomas Abercrombie and Cameron Gliddon retired. Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Max Darling, Dane Pineau, Carlin Davison and Alex McNaught returned.
Head coach Mody Maor (to Nagasaki) was replaced by Petteri Koponen (via Helsinki), who added Matt Mooney (via Trento), Sam Mennenga (via Cairns), Mojave King (via Indiana), Mitch McCarron (via Adelaide), Jonah Bolden (via Sydney), Sean Bairstow (via Richmond), Grant Anticevich (via Gottingen), Freddie Gillespie (via Belgrade), Karim Lopez (via Badalona) and Kaia Isaac (via Canterbury).
McNaught entered the second season of a three-year development-player extension which kept him under contract through the 2025/26 season. “My goal with this new contract extension is to try and cement my place in the team and play consistent minutes,” he said when signing the deal.
The reserve point guard made his first appearance of the season against South East Melbourne on October 24, finishing with 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal in 9 minutes and 51 seconds, while Hurt (19 points and 7 rebounds) led the Phoenix to an 88-62 win.
McNaught (0.3 points across 6 games) remained outside New Zealand’s regular rotation during his third season as a development player. No injury was reported, with his limited appearances coming behind the Breakers’ contracted guards.
McNaught’s best game came against Melbourne on November 4, where he scored his only field goal of the season and finished with 2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 steal. Cameron (20 points) led United, but New Zealand won 113-79 and improved to 6-2.
New Zealand entered the FIBA break sitting second with a 7-3 record before Gillespie (6.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks across 9 games) requested his release (to Milan) and was replaced by Tacko Fall (via Nanjing).
McNaught’s final appearance came against Melbourne on January 13, where he played the final 38 seconds without recording a statistic as Chris Goulding (42 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists) made his tenth three-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining to give United a 91-89 win.
Jackson-Cartwright (18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.6 steals across 21 games) and Mooney (16.1 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.6 steals across 29 games) led New Zealand’s backcourt, while Mennenga (11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds across 29 games), Fall (11.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks across 18 games), Lopez (9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds across 25 games) and King (8.5 points across 17 games) provided the other main contributions. Jackson-Cartwright won the Breakers’ MVP and Members Choice awards, King was named Defensive Player of the Year and Mennenga’s 29-point and 9-rebound performance against Tasmania was voted the Fans’ Moment of the Year. New Zealand finished ninth with a 10-19 record and missed the postseason.
New Zealand closed the season against Illawarra at Spark Arena on February 5, where Fall (16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 3 blocks) and Lopez (12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block) led the Breakers, while Harvey (29 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists) led the Hawks to a 96-82 win.
2025/26
After finishing ninth with a 10-19 record in 2024/25, New Zealand retained Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Sam Mennenga, Karim Lopez, Max Darling, Sean Bairstow, Carlin Davison and development guard Alex McNaught, while Matt Mooney, Jonah Bolden (to Illawarra), Mojave King (to Cairns), Grant Anticevich (to Belgium), Freddie Gillespie (to Turkey), Tacko Fall (to China), Tai Wynyard, Dane Pineau (retired) and Mitch McCarron (retired) departed.
After returning as President of Basketball Operations in March 2025, Dillon Boucher worked with second-year head coach Petteri Koponen to rebuild around a stronger New Zealand playing core. In April, Boucher said the Breakers had contacted virtually every New Zealander playing outside New Zealand or Australia, directly or through their agents, with Finn Delany and Yanni Wetzell among the overseas players publicly discussed as potential recruits.
Alex McNaught returned for the final season of his three-year development-player contract, continuing as a reserve guard behind New Zealand’s established backcourt.
McNaught (1 point across 2 games) appeared twice during the season. McNaught (1 rebound) played 1:17 in an 83-114 loss to South East Melbourne before scoring his only basket in the regular-season finale, where McNaught (2 points) played 3:23 as the Breakers defeated Cairns 115-84 and finished seventh with a 13-20 record. McNaught remained unused in New Zealand’s last game, a 111-107 Ignite Cup Final win over Adelaide.
Alex McNaught played four seasons with the New Zealand Breakers.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 23 | New Zealand | 13-20 (7) | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 33% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 1 | 0% | 29% | 0% | 2 |
| 2024-25 | 22 | New Zealand | 10-19 (9) | 6 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 17% | 0 | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 17% | 0% | 2 |
| 2023-24 | 21 | New Zealand | 13-15 (6) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0 |
| 2022-23 | 20 | New Zealand | 18-10 (2) | 12 | 57 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 36% | 1 | 4 | 25% | 2 | 4 | 50% | 43% | 41% | 7 | Totals | 23 | 83 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 20 | 30.0% | 1 | 6 | 16.7% | 2 | 5 | 40.0% | 34% | 33% | 2 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 23 | New Zealand | 13-20 (7) | 2 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 33% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0% | 29% | 0% | 2 |
| 2024-25 | 22 | New Zealand | 10-19 (9) | 6 | 3.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 17% | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 17% | 0% | 2 |
| 2023-24 | 21 | New Zealand | 13-15 (6) | 3 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0 |
| 2022-23 | 20 | New Zealand | 18-10 (2) | 12 | 4.8 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 36% | 0.1 | 0.3 | 25% | 0.2 | 0.3 | 50% | 43% | 41% | 7 | Total | 23 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 30.0% | 0.0 | 16.7% | 0.0 | 0.3 | 40.0% | 34% | 33% | 2 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- New Zealand - Nelson Giants (2020–2026) | England - Hemel Storm (2026–)
McNaught first played for the Nelson Giants during the 2020 New Zealand NBL season and returned for the club in 2021.
In 2022, he played his third season with Nelson and held a regular starting role, earning nominations for Youth Player of the Year and Most Improved Player.
Across 18 games in 2023, McNaught averaged 9.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He also set a Nelson career high of 22 points against the Taranaki Airs in the penultimate game of the season.
In 2024, he played all 20 games for the Giants and averaged 9.5 points, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Ahead of the 2025 Sals NZNBL season, Nelson confirmed McNaughts return as part of the Giants retained local playing group alongside Hayden Jones and Sam Dempster.
The 2025 roster also added Liam Judd, Callum McRae, former NBA forward Brice Johnson and Australian centre Callum Dalton, as reported in February 2025 by NZ Sports Wire.
Across 18 games in 2025, McNaught averaged 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20.7 minutes per game.
Nelson confirmed on 22 January 2026 that McNaught had re-signed for a seventh NZNBL season with the Giants. He played 19 games in 2026 and averaged 7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.
On 3 September 2026, McNaught signed with Hemel Storm in England for the 2026–27 British Basketball Championship campaign. Hemel went 4–0 through the BCB Trophy group stage and finished top of its group after beating previously unbeaten Milton Keynes 99–93 on 26 September.
Related
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