Sudanese-Australian wing Deng Adel is expected to signed a deal with to play for the Hawks in the 2020-21 NBL season.
Sources reached ESPN earlier today after posting an article that confirmed the move however with some of the finer details remaining to be completed the post was taken down while the team finalizes things and announced it formally.
@ESPNAusNZ what happened to this story RE: Deng Adel signing with @thehawks? There is no text… Bad intel? A slap on the wrists? Computer error on my end? #NBL21 https://t.co/vt1HfxLSQx
— NBLpocketpodcast (@NBLpocketpod) July 15, 2020
Adel, 23, was one of the most coveted Australian free agents on the market and was quickly made a priority by the Hawks’ new ownership group entering NBL Free Agency.
He was pursued heavily by both of his hometown Melbourne teams and the Adelaide 36ers but the talks went silent with those teams once the Hawks announced Brian Goorjian as coach. Goorjian has close in close contact with Adel with both residing in Melbourne with flights out being blocked due to COVID-19.
Some finer details are to be re-worked in Adel’s contract but he is still expected to be announced as the first big-name acquired by the Hawks new ownership in the coming days.
The athletic forward who enjoyed a brief stint in the NBA in 2019 after signing a two-way deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, was fled the war-ravaged South Sudan with his family, arriving in Melbourne when he was eight.
The swingman’s family fled from He represented Waverly basketball association as a teenager in Melbourne before a unique chance to play high school basketball in the states arrived when he earned a scholarship from Victory Rock Prep in Florida at 16 years of age.
Adel received offers from numerous Division I colleges including Connecticut, Florida, Mississippi, and Virginia Tech before choosing to sign with the University of Louisville, teaming with fellow Aussie Mangok Mathiang.
Adel played three years, averaging a team-high 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists in his final season before entering the 2018 NBA draft only to go undrafted. A quick stint in the NBA G-League Raptors 905 led to his shot with the Cavaliers where played in 19 NBA games, starting in three of them.
He was in the last group of players cut from the Australia Boomers 2019 FIBA World Cup squad and spent last season playing with the Long Island Nets in the G-League before their season was paused – and ultimately cancelled – due to the coronavirus pandemic in March, Adel held averages of 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game up until that point.