Adelaide 36ers fans may have something to get excited about with top US High school recruit, Terrance Ferguson, who is projected to go in the top 20 in the 2017 NBA draft, is expected to be signing with the Adelaide 36ers.
Can’t confirm yet but hearing 5-star recruit, Terrance Ferguson, may end up in Australia. Adelaide is team I’ve heard.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) June 6, 2016
Scouting reports list Ferguson as a 200 cm shooting guard who is incredibly athletic who has outstanding feet on defense.
The reports on Ferguson suggest he may be exactly what the 36ers need, bringing some athleticism, three point shooting and defense to the Sixers back court.
Taking a look at the 18 year old on YouTube for 15 seconds should be enough to tell you he’ll be sure to please the Adelaide fans with the strong array of dunks he unleashed on players in his high school games.
We’ve seen many players enter the NBL with NBA experience. Adelaide has also had it’s share of players who were first round NBA draft selections, but not once have we seen an international player use the NBL as a springboard to improve his NBA draft chances.
History has seen players use the NBL to become a first round draft pick like Chris Anstey, but only our homegrown talent. We’ve also seen spectacular imports chosen in the NBA draft but find themselves unable to immediately make an NBA roster spend a season or two in the NBL and then go on and have impressive NBA careers like Doug Overton, Stephen Jackson or the recent efforts of James Ennis. But never have we seen someone who would fit into both criteria.
Going from the scouting reports and YouTube footage one could seen Ferguson having an NBL impact similar to some of the talented Australia’s who have debuted in the NBL at a similar age to Ferguson and then gone on to become NBA level talent.
Recent NBL returnee Brad Newley dazzled NBL fans in his rookie season in Townsville. The Adelaide born Newley played his rookie season with Townsville, something the 36ers regret to this day.
He picked up the leagues All-Star game MVP mid season, helped guide the Crocodiles to an NBL playoff spot and was awarded the league’s Rookie of the Year and Best Sixth Man honor for his efforts.
Newley and Ferguson both stand at 6’6″ in the old scale and although Newley will weigh in at 95kg this season (at 31 years of age) his rookie playing weight was comparable to the 85kg that Ferguson is currently listed at today.
Could he deliver the 16 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2 assists that Newley did that year for Adelaide? It’s something they definitely need with their current roster looking like one of the weaker rosters on paper for the 2016/17 season so far.
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