Melbourne Reportedly In Mix For New Import

Although there has been no official announcement from the club as of yet, rumours that Melbourne United are preparing to bring in a new import are quickly growing. 

Marcus Lee – the 6’11 centre formerly of the University of Kentucky – has been touted as a potential inclusion, according to ESPN. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Marcus Lee has agreed to a deal with Melbourne United for the remainder of the 2022-23 NBL season, sources told ESPN. He replaces Jordan Caroline, who’s been released.<a href="https://t.co/TFrEQijBSE">https://t.co/TFrEQijBSE</a></p>&mdash; Olgun Uluc (@OlgunUluc) <a href="https://twitter.com/OlgunUluc/status/1592339863998988289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 15, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“We’re awaiting official word from Melbourne United,” NBL analyst Liam Santamaria said on NBL Today. “Dean Vickerman’s been talking about it, ‘we need a five to replace Ariel Hukporti and help Isaac Humphries’.

“Dave Barlow as the undersized small-ball five has been helpful, David Okwera has been terrific playing a bigger role, but they needed another big body to be able to go with the Keanu Pinders and the Dererk Pardons of the league.

“[Lee is a] big boy, [an] athlete [and a] lob threat. [He] plays a very specific role in that kind of sense. He’s going to come in and help this team.”

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Should Lee come into the NBL, as has been reported, he’ll enter the league off of a short stint with Basquet Manresa in Spain where he’s averaged 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in 20 minutes a game.

“The numbers aren’t jumping off the page from what he’s been producing in Spain,” Santamaria added.

"That’s why he’s available. Guys who are absolutely burning these competitions up around the world are locked up and good to go for the rest of the season.

“Sometimes you have to find a diamond in the rough.”