Johnson: Adelaide in Championship Mix

Daniel Johnson says a new-look Adelaide roster is ready to compete for the NBL championship.

An injection of talent, with the recruitment of imports Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks, alongside Kyrin Galloway and Anthony Drmic, has the 36ers full of confidence.

Johnson, Mitch McCarron, Sunday Dech and Kai Sotto round out a roster brimming with talent. 

“The guys that we have brought in have shown they can really play well in this league,” Johnson told the club’s website. 

“Both of the guys are really tough … ‘AC’ (Cleveland) with his defence and ‘Robo’ (Franks) with his offense and defence will give us the opportunity to space the floor and run it a bit faster.

“We will be up and down the floor a bit more, which the fans will love to see.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks.<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Adelaide36ers</a> have got themselves one heck of a combo for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> <a href="https://t.co/MBbVd1X1c4">pic.twitter.com/MBbVd1X1c4</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1538026895526494211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 18, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Adelaide finished seventh on the ladder last season, winning just 10 from 28 games. 

But with an already well-rounded lineup and two roster spots still to fill, Johnson is confident this year will be different. 

“I think we really have a strong roster and now we need to finish it off with a couple of other pieces.”

At 34, Johnson hasn’t showed any signs of slowing down yet. But he admits time could be running out to taste the ultimate success.

His goal for 2022, one that every player in the league is striving for. 

“It’s winning a championship, the roster we will have this year will be really competitive,” Johnson added. 

“This year is a good year for us to really push for that and make it a goal.”

The veteran will represent Australia in the 3x3 tournament at the Commonwealth Games, with matches tipping off on Sunday morning.