Kuol Deal to Unlock Free Agency

Bul Kuol’s signature was in high demand across the League, and with his name now off the table, reportedly putting pen-to-paper on a one-year extension at the Cairns Taipans, ESPN Insider Olgun Uluc expects a potential flurry of moves.  

“The reason I thought Bul Kuol was perhaps the most significant Free Agent was because of the amount of money teams were willing to spend on him, it dictated the rest of the market,” Uluc said on The Marketplace. 

“Now if you look at a Sydney Kings or South East Melbourne Phoenix or the Illawarra Hawks, who couldn’t land Bul Kuol, they all of a sudden have this chunk of money that they were preparing to spend on Kuol that can now be spent elsewhere.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of the other local wings get off the table, so I’m talking about your Anthony Drmic, Tanner Krebs, Todd Blanchfield … those names are probably going to get off the table now.

“When you look at these teams, you wonder, do they not focus as much on the local talent and spend a little bit more on imports? It wouldn’t surprise me if some teams did that as well.”

Adding to the intrigue, the fact that April 14 looms as somewhat of a deadline day for several contracted stars. Why? Because up until the date, clubs have the opportunity to secure a 50 per cent buyout figure on existing contracts. After that deadline, the team would need to pay the full amount of their remaining contract value.

According to Uluc, the Perth Wildcats will be keen to move on several contracted players over the next week.

“The situation regarding Todd Blanchfield and Mitch Norton … if you have a desire to buy out Todd Blanchfield’s contract for example, you can save 50 per cent of your money by buying it out before that April 14 date.

“It would make sense for the Wildcats and teams around the League to push to try and find guys like Blanchfield and Norton and Kyle Zunic new homes ahead of that date … at the very least it would make sense for the Wildcats to try and push it before that date.”