Sam Mackinnon
July 23, 2020
Max Mackinnon
- Nationality: AUS
- Date of Birth: 9/10/03
- Place of Birth: Sydney, NSW
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 198
- Weight (KG): 96
- Junior Assoc:
- College: Elon (2022–2024) / Portland (2024–2025) / LSU (2025-2026)
- NBL DEBUT: 15/01/22
- AGE AT DEBUT: 18
- LAST NBL GAME: 16/04/22
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 18
- NBL History: Brisbane 2022
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Max Mackinnon was born in Sydney, NSW. He later moved to Brisbane (QLD) where his father Sam had played for the Bullets during the 2000’s. MacKinnon would follow in his father’s footsteps, signing a deal to play with Brisbane as a development player after becoming a hotly pursued junior player, who led the Queensland U/20’s side to a gold medal win at the Australian Championships, averaging 15.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3 assists per game.
He attended Lake Ginninderra College after moving to Canberra to attend the Centre of Excellence. Mackinnon received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2021. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.
FAMILY: Max MacKinnon is the son of Sam MacKinnon who played 459 games in the NBL.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Max Mackinnon made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
Coming off the back of finishing sixth last season, it was announced that Andrej Lemanis was leaving the side after five years as head coach. After considering assistant coach and former Bullets player CJ Bruton for the role, they instead brought in former Sydney Kings assistant James Duncan as the team’s new head coach.
The Bullets were also forced to re-tool their roster, making several changes to key personnel. While import Lamar Patterson returned, the Bullets lost Vic Law to Perth, and with BJ Johnson signing a NBA deal with Orlando, they were unable to retain him either. Local bigs Matt Hodgson (to Perth), Harry Froling (to Illawarra) and development player Callum Dalton (to Melbourne) all headed elsewhere, looking for better opportunities.
Brisbane re-signed Tyrell Harrison (two-year deal) and Jason Cadee (two-year deal) and filled the remaining gaps with international flavour, signing Chuanxing Liu (China), Jack Salt (New Zealand), Deng Deng (South Sudan), Next Star Tom Digbeu (France) and import Robert Franks (USA).
In the opening game of the season, the Bullets fell short against the JackJumpers in Tasmania (74-83). While the overtime loss didn’t end the team’s season, it set the tone for the Bullets, who saw single-digit losses pile up against the league’s top team’s all season.
As the competition hit the halfway mark, Brisbane’s record was 5-9, and with injuries to Harrison (elbow) and star guard Nathan Sobey (knee), Brisbane struggled to find any rhythm during the second half of the season with the duo missing 11 and 16 games respectively.
Robert Franks (18.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) was the Bullets high scorer in 13 games, and leading vote getter for the Leroy Loggins MVP Award (Club MVP). While leading the team in scoring, he shot 50% from the field and 76% from the free-throw line and finished fifth in the league for points per game.
Patterson (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals), Sobey (16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists), and Jason Cadee (10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists) were the only other players scoring in double figures.
This season new head coach James Duncan wanted the Bullets to be better defensively, at the start of the season the 44-year-old would have been impressed with how his team was playing defensively. However, Brisbane wasn’t able to maintain it, and its defence fluctuated throughout the year, it finished the year as the worst defensive team, conceding 89.3 points per game and finishing first for turnovers, averaging 14.6 per game.
Although the Bullets did show small glimpses of potential under the reigns of new coach Duncan, Brisbane would miss the finals for the third straight year, finishing in eighth place (10-18). Mackinnon would see limited opportunities to play, appearing in five games and averaging 7.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.
Max Mackinnon played one season in the NBL. He averaged 0.2 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.2 assists in 5 NBL games.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 18 | Brisbane | 10-18 (8) | 5 | 10.6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 50% | 13% | 0% | 1 | Totals | 5 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.0% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | 0% | 0% | 1 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 18 | Brisbane | 10-18 (8) | 5 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.2 | 0.4 | 50% | 13% | 0% | 1 | Total | 5 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 50.0% | 0% | 0% | 1 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- BA Centre of Excellence (2021), Brisbane (2022)
Mackinnon joined BA Centre of Excellence for the 2021 NBL1 season, with his roster place forming part of his scholarship year at the Centre of Excellence.
Max Mackinnon joined Brisbane for the 2022 NBL1 North season, playing 17 games and recording 349 points in 504 minutes while shooting 140-from-300 from the field. He averaged 20.5 points and 6.4 assists, scored 35 points and five assists in a 100–87 win over Sunshine Coast, and won the NBL1 North Men’s Youth Player of the Year award.
FIBA EXPERIENCE
Won back-to-back gold medals with the U20 Australian National Team, and earned an All-Star 5 selection at the Australian National Championship.
COLLEGE
Max Mackinnon began his NCAA college career at Elon University, where he played for the Phoenix during the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons, establishing himself early as a key contributor and versatile two-way guard.
As a freshman in 2022–23 at Elon, Mackinnon appeared in 31 games with 27 starts and finished second on the team in scoring at 11.4 points per game, while also ranking second in rebounds with 5.1 per contest, dishing out 75 assists, and recording 34 steals across the season. He averaged 29.5 minutes per game and was named the CAA Rookie of the Year, earning four CAA Rookie of the Week honours along the way.
That freshman season included multiple high-impact performances, including three double-doubles, a season high of 24 points and 12 rebounds at High Point (Nov. 30), and a 17-point, 13-rebound outing at College of Charleston on January 14.
In his sophomore season (2023–24) at Elon, Mackinnon started all 32 games and again made a significant all-around contribution, increasing his scoring to 12.1 points per game while leading the team in rebounds at 4.8 per game, adding 84 assists and shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point range. He scored in double figures in 22 games and posted a double-double against Warren Wilson University with 12 points and 10 boards.
Following two seasons at Elon, Mackinnon transferred to the University of Portland for the 2024–25 season, where he started 30 of 32 games, averaged 14.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, and shot 46.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three. He also shot 88.7 percent on free throws and delivered 22 games in double figures, including standout performances with 43 points against San Diego — tying Portland’s single-game scoring record — and 29 and 28-point games versus Loyola Marymount and San Francisco respectively.
Mackinnon’s junior year at Portland saw him become one of the All-West Coast Conference (WCC) second-team selections, leading the Pilots in scoring and showing efficient attacking play, particularly from deep.
AWARDS
- 2022-23 CAA Rookie of the Year
Related
HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON THIS PLAYER?
Whilst we try to source as much information as we can for every player who has ever played in the NBL some information on a player profile may be missing. If you have additional information on a player you'd like us to add to a profile, please send it to us using the enquiry form below.
Submissions are then sent to info@aussiehoopla.com