NICKNAME/S: Cal

BIO: Callum Dalton was born in Logan (QLD) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Logan basketball program. Dalton received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2016. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2016, 2017, 2018).

FAMILY: Callum Dalton is the son of Mark Dalton who played 421 games in the NBL. His uncle is also Brad Dalton who played 290 games in the NBL.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Callum Dalton made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 20 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

Queensland’s Cal Dalton signed a Development Player deal with the Bullets in 2021. Brisbane had put together a high-scoring side onto the floor, with import Vic Law (18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks) shooting the ball at 47% from the field and team captain Nathan Sobey (21.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists) shooting the ball at 46 FG%, and both finishing among the top five scorers in the league. A solid local frontcourt of Matthew Hodgson (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks), Harry Froling (8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Tyrell Harrison (5.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) made sure the Bullets outrebounded most team’s, finishing third in offensive rebounding and second in defensive rebounds across the league.

Brisbane showcased what they ‘could be’ in a win over Illawarra (97-91) where Law (29 points and 9 rebounds) and Sobey (18 points and seven assists) piled on the points while Froling and Hodgson notched up 13 rebounds combined.

The high-scoring offence and strong rebounding still saw Brisbane (8-8) struggling to win half of their games. Orlando Johnson (6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was released mid-March after posting average numbers across 15 games, a move which coincided with New Zealand releasing Lamar Patterson after a niggling knee injury and sluggish start to the season.

Patterson (14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals) returned to Brisbane, overcame the knee injury and set the stage for the Bullets to return to the playoffs, but a knee injury to Law in the very next game would rule him out for the rest of the season.

Brisbane (10-8) had been floating in and out of the top four, and while Sobey would attempt to fill the void created by Law’s injury, the Bullets would lose five of their next seven games, giving up a average of 90 points while putting up 80 of their own. This led to the mid-season signing of BJ Johnson (10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) who they hoped would help stem the bleeding, which it somewhat did, resulting in a 8-10 run to end the Bullets season.

Despite flashes of brilliance, Brisbane stumbled to a sixth-place finish at the end of the season (18-18) and failed to reach the playoffs. Dalton took to the court three times for the season but failed to score.

MELBOURNE UNITED
2021/22
After a season spent with his hometown club, Brisbane, Dalton moved south to play for the Melbourne United.

After winning the 2021 championship, Melbourne lost it’s leading scorer Jock Landale to a NBA opportunity with San Antonio and starting point guard Mitch McCarron, who became the league’s highest paid local player as a result of signing a three-year deal with Adelaide. United then quickly turned their attention to rebuilding the roster for the NBL22 season, immediately re-signing Lual Acuil, David Barlow and Shea Ili, received a boost from the return of Jack White, who missed the second half of last season to a ACL injury, and added free agents Brad Newley (via Sydney) and Dion Prewster, who had just won the NZNBL MVP award. Next, United secured the biggest free agent of the year, inking NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova to a three-year deal. Lastly, Caleb Agada, who had just played for Nigeria at the Olympics was replaced import Scotty Hopson and talented young German Ariel Hukporti was added to the roster under the Next Stars program.

Outside of a 0-2 start, United were dominant all season, winning their next three games to end December and then losing only one game (5-1) in January while playing all of their games on the road.

In January 2022, Goulding reached 5,000 NBL points, becoming just the second active player to reach the milestone behind Daniel Johnson (Adelaide).

In February, United would win four of their five games and with a record of 12-4 sit atop of the NBL ladder where they would stay for the remainder of the season. Jo Lual Acuil (16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks) would lead the team in scoring and earn selection to the All-NBL First team while Chris Goulding (15.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was named to the All-NBL Second Team. The impact of Shea Ili (8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.4 steals) off the bench was also recognised around the league with him winning the Sixth Man of the Year award. Dalton would appear in 6 games, while averaging 1.3 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0 assists and helped United finish the regular season in first place (20-8).

Tasmania would finish fourth on the ladder in their first NBL season, setting up a semifinal series against United. As expected, United defeated the JackJumpers in game one (74-63) but playing their first game of playoff basketball at home, Tasmania leveled the series (1-1) with a win in game two. Heading into the deciding game three, captain Goulding was deemed unfit to play, which allowed Tasmania to take clamp down on the defensive end. Without Goulding, United couldn’t buy a basket from outside, with Dellavedova (1-7), Agada (0-7), White (0-5) and Baba (0-2) shot a combined 1-21 from beyond the arc. Overall, United went 6-29 (20 per cent) from three, compared to the JackJumpers 10-32 (31 per cent). Still, United were able to keep it close, and it was only in the final moments that Tasmania secured the victory (76-73), ending Melbourne’s playoff run and making history by reaching a Grand Final in their debut season..

Heading into the deciding game three, captain Goulding was deemed unfit to play, which allowed Tasmania to take clamp down on the defensive end. Without Goulding, United couldn’t buy a basket from outside, with Dellavedova (1-7), Agada (0-7), White (0-5) and Baba (0-2) shot a combined 1-21 from beyond the arc. Overall, United went 6-29 (20 per cent) from three, compared to the JackJumpers 10-32 (31 per cent). Still, United were able to keep it close, and it was only in the final moments that Tasmania secured the victory (76-73), ending Melbourne’s playoff run and making history by reaching a Grand Final in their debut season.

Heading into the deciding game three, captain Goulding was deemed unfit to play, which allowed Tasmania to take clamp down on the defensive end. Without Goulding, United couldn’t buy a basket from outside, with Dellavedova (1-7), Agada (0-7), White (0-5) and Baba (0-2) shot a combined 1-21 from beyond the arc. Overall, United went 6-29 (20 per cent) from three, compared to the JackJumpers 10-32 (31 per cent). Still, United were able to keep it close, and it was only in the final moments that Tasmania secured the victory (76-73), ending Melbourne’s playoff run and making history by reaching a Grand Final in their debut season..

2022/23
After Melbourne finished the previous season on top of the ladder but suffered a early playoff exit after losing star guard Chris Goulding to injury, many felt United would return as championship favourites. Unexpectedly, however, United lost almost half of their starting unit prior to their first game as a result of injuries and better opportunities overseas.

Leading scorer Jo Lual Acuil, was very keen to stay in Melbourne but exited the club after receiving a offer to play in China, which was far too good to refuse.

White and Dellavedova were both contracted for this season, but with only weeks before tip-off, both secured deals to play in the NBA from Denver and Sacramento respectively. The loss of both players couldn’t have come at a worse time, as most players around the globe had already signed deals with team’s, leaving very few options available to replace them. Isaac Humphries (via Adelaide), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (via Illawarra), Rayjon Tucker and Jordan Caroline were all signed, and David Barlow, who had announced his retirement, returned to help fill the gaps.

Things went from bad to worse when Next Star Ariel Hukporti went down clutching his lower leg during the NBL Blitz in Darwin. With starting centre Hukporti out for the season, Humphries, who was coming back from a serious bout of knee problems, was thrust into playing major minutes. The absence of a clear backup big man forced veteran forwards Barlow and Brad Newley, as well as import Jordan Caroline, to log considerable minutes at the centre position.

United were able to win their first game of the season, a overtime victory against New Zealand (101–97) off the back of a huge night from Rathan-Mayes (33 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists).

Rathan-Mayes (14.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists), who had been recruited to lead the team’s second unit, was thrust into the starting lineup after Shea Ili (8.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.7 assists) became a late omission, a result of a concussion suffered during FIBA qualifying games while playing for New Zealand. Ili would drift in and out of the team’s roster for most of the season, appearing in only 13 games through three separate stints, forcing Tucker to spend time out of position and running the floor in his absence.

Melbourne (5-6) struggled through the first three months of the season, with numerous media outlets calling for a import change to try and improve their situation. While Tucker (17.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), who, when first signed, proclaimed that he would be the ‘best first year import in the league’ was a long way away from that, it was Caroline (5.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists) who came into United’s program as a high-effort, bustling power forward but failed to establish himself as a undersized centre and was axed.

Marcus Lee (9.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks), a former teammate of Humphries, was signed in November, adding size and interior defence to the squad and sparking a major turnaround for Melbourne.

The last straw seemed to be a loss to Illawarra (93–79), who at the time had only one to their credit for the entire season. This loss, combined with Melbourne finally being able to put their intended starting roster fit on the floor, resulted in a 16-point win over Brisbane (104-88) the following game. Goulding (20 points), Tucker (20 points), Lee (18 points), Ili (15 points) and Rathan-Mayes (8 points and 10 rebounds) off the bench, all producing good numbers and gelling together for the first time. Following their shock defeat to the Hawks, United ended their campaign on a 11-3 run.

Melbourne’s turnaround saw them enter the final day of the regular season with hopes of scraping into the Play-In Qualifier. It looked like United would make it after Tucker (31 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) carried the team to a win over Adelaide (116–107) in their last game, a Perth victory over league leaders Sydney saw them claim the final playoff spot due to points percentage.

Dalton would appear in 5 games this season and average 1.4 points and 0.2 rebounds.

Callum Dalton played three seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Brisbane Bullets and the Melbourne United..

Dan Boyce (815 Posts)

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.