Exciting news today as basketball superstar Carmelo Anthony announced he has become an ambassador for the NBL Next Stars program and will play an active role in “attracting and mentoring top-tier players worldwide”.

NBA legend Carmelo Anthony has joined ownership of an expansion team in Australia’s NBL ????

Eight players have been drafted out of the NBL’s Next Stars program, including LaMelo Ball. ???? pic.twitter.com/BpLKLEHRVX

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 4, 2024

He joins fellow NBA legend Kenny Smith, who announced he would be taking up the role of Head of Next Stars’ Player Initiatives – North America two months ago.

Excited to make this official! I’m looking forward to being partnering with the NBL’s Next Stars program and to be fully invested in the growth of the NBL as a future owner of an expansion team. Learn more at https://t.co/8cXmM5AagO pic.twitter.com/c42gw1IkWb

— Kenny Smith (@TheJetOnTNT) April 6, 2024

Part of the agreement for both players included a commitment to being part of the ownership group for a future NBL expansion team after joining the NBL’s Next Star program.

It’s believed the plans for this expansion team be to enter a ‘Next Stars’ team that would be based on the Gold Coast, similar to the NBA’s recently disbanded G-League Ignite program.

Initial plans revolve around the Gold Coast expansion team fielding three to five Next Stars, who would play alongside a group of veteran local players and imports which would look to develop the Next Star players in preparation for their NBA careers.

Is Larry Kestelman owning NBL teams a conflict of interest? Should the NBL be controlling the majority of hoops media? Is the Next Star program stifling junior Aussie talent? @andrewbogut joins the podcast to give his opinions on these ???? topics and more https://t.co/B39HMGUPGg pic.twitter.com/rPXEQMFaPG

— AussieHoopla (@aussiehoopla) May 23, 2024

On a recent Aussie Hoopla podcast, Andrew Bogut, part of the Sydney Kings ownership group, confirmed talks were underway and the most likely path for future NBL expansion. He also outlined that he personally felt a ‘Next Stars Team’ in the league wasn’t a good move for the NBL.

“Gold Coast will happen sooner or later. I know they have a huge basketball following up there now.” Bogut said.

“There are rumours around a next star team floating around; I’m strongly against that; I hope that never happens. I think that would be terrible.”

During the podcast, Bogut also confirmed that the NBL plans to expand with a second team in Sydney. However, due to an agreement with existing Kings ownership, this cannot happen until the 2026/2027 season, unless the NBL agrees to pay a fee to the Kings ownership in return for having that lifted.

A brand new 12,000 seat indoor sports stadium has been approved from council to be built in the Gold Coast suburb of Southport and positions the team to be right of the verge of going ahead.

With Gold Coast and Sydney, both expected to be the front-runners for the site of the NBL’s next team, and both believed to be in heavy discussions with the league, two new teams entering the league in 2026/27 could expand the NBL from 10 teams to 12 in one season.

Whilst a team full of Next Star talent would likely have its limitations, as outlined by Bogut, if the league were to bring in two expansion teams from both Gold Coast and Sydney within a similar time frame, finding local talent to field the 16-22 roster spots would be quite difficult.

Having a team that would fill much of that requirement with Next Star players would help to expand the league without diluting the Aussie talent around it.

Since college basketball has begun to pay its players considerable incomes, the NBL Next Stars program has become less attractive to US talent. A gap for the Next Stars program to exploit, however, is the fact that European players aren’t eligible to receive payment under college basketball’s Name, Image, Likeness program (NIL).

This reality is expected to see Next Stars primarily come from European countries, as we’ve seen during recent seasons with players from France ie. Alexander Sarr, Rayan Rupert, and Ousmane Dieng.

Another trend expected for the Next Stars program is for teams to veer away from adding guards to their rosters. Adelaide 36ers head coach Scott Ninnis, on the latest episode of Aussie Hoopla, confirmed that having seen what players can deliver team success through the Next Star program, it is generally the frontcourt players.

“Right now, you’ve seen the Next Stars that have worked in this league and a lot of them have been big guys, you know, backup bigs. Obviously, there’s Sarr in Perth and (Ariel) Hukporti in Melbourne, and I think if we go down the Next Star road again, that’s what we’d be looking to do, we’d be looking at a big guy.” said Ninnis.

Scott Ninnis on taking over from CJ Bruton as @Adelaide36ers coach, recruiting the roster for NBL25, overspending on players in recent years, and highlights from his 13 seasons as a player https://t.co/fdIN5bosgZ

Supported by https://t.co/CXaqsKcrDi pic.twitter.com/Tzx4WxPtlB

— AussieHoopla (@aussiehoopla) June 1, 2024

This trend seems to be echoed with Next Stars players like Rocco Zikarsky (Brisbane) and Bobi Klintman (Cairns), both being backup big men and with most NBL teams generally investing a major chunk of their salary cap towards import backcourt players who will play the majority of game time, it makes sense why most teams would struggle to incorporate the playing time a teenage guard who needs to boost their draft stock.

A “Next Stars’ expansion team could solve a lot of these problems and become a destination for European guards who are hoping to boost their draft stock and make the NBA.

With Anthony and Smith now making two investments in the ‘next NBL expansion team,’ it seems that the league is close to undergoing a major growth spurt yet again. And let’s be honest, what NBA player wouldn’t want to visit the Gold Coast on a tax-deductible dollar because you own a team in a league rapidly increasing in value that’s responsible for developing some of the best young talents for the NBA each year? While taking the kids to some amusement parks… That pitch sells itself.