How could Harvey citizenship impact contract?

Illawarra Hawks star Tyler Harvey is reportedly eligible for Australian citizenship in January 2025, which could make for an interesting off-season of contract negotiations.

Harvey has been the face of the Hawks since 2020 but will hit the free agency market at the end of the current season.

ESPN news breaker Olgun Uluc has told The Marketplace an application for Harvey’s Australian citizenship could happen “relatively quickly” once he is eligible, which has the likelihood to make him a more attractive option for teams this off-season.

“If you re-sign him this off-season to a multi-year deal, that is a multi-year deal that is a local player probably from the middle of next season onwards basically,” Uluc explained.

“That makes him way more attractive as a potential signing.”

Teams can sign three imports, so Harvey moving off that classification and into a local would open another import spot.

2018 NBL champion Peter Hooley believes the situation leaves Illawarra with a big decision to make.

“He has been in Australia for a while now and I’ve spoken to him a little bit about how much he loves Australia and citizenship being on the table,” Hooley said.

“It significantly changes this entire thing with Tyler Harvey…you got a guy who loves it here, who wants to become an Australian, all of a sudden that makes the next deal a very interesting dilemma for him, his representation and the Hawks.”

Uluc further reported Illawarra will look to bring back Gary Clark next season.