Breakers add former European MVP

New Zealand has beefed up its backcourt rotation, with the signing of a second import guard for NBL24.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright, 28, has joined the club on a one-year deal, following a successful season with Besiktas in Turkey.

Prior to joining the Turkish giants, he was named the 2022 German Basketball Bundesliga MVP, and the 2021 French LNB Pro B MVP, while playing for Bonn and Saint-Quentin respectively.

Jackson-Cartwright averaged 17.9 points per game, while playing for Besiktas last season – enough to rank seventh in the league for scoring – on over 50 per cent shooting, while also adding over seven assists per game.

The season before he was even more impressive. Playing for Finn Delany’s German club Baskets Bonn, he lined up in 37 games, averaging 20.4 points, seven assists and 3.5 rebounds.

“If you look at the key metrics in the game, Parker is in the top 10 percentile of all five, including being an above-average rebounder,” Breakers coach Mody Maor said of Jackson-Cartwright's time in Germany. 

Statistically, he is the smallest import in the club’s history; when measured for the NBA draft in 2018, Jackson-Cartwright was listed at 5’9” in shoes.

But that hasn't stopped Jackson-Cartwright's strong impact at every club he's been at. 

“You don’t measure the impact of a basketball player in his centimetres,” Maor said. 

“You should look at the fact that his teams have historically won at every level.  There’s something infectious Parker possesses out on the floor and he’s bringing it to the Breakers.”

Jackson-Cartwright is the second to last player confirmed on Mody Maor’s roster for NBL24, joining Tom Abercrombie, Finn Delany, Will McDowell-White, Izayah Le’afa, Cam Gliddon, Dan Fotu, Mangok Mathiang, Dane Pineau, Next Star Mantas Rubstavicius and fellow American Import Zylan Cheatham.