Start your engines: Your team's NBL25 starting five

The NBL Blitz is just around the corner, pre-season games are underway and teams are putting the final touches on their roster for the upcoming season.

This year looms to be bigger than ever, with a raft of new talent in the league, and several teams bringing in star power as they look to rise up the ladder.

There's still plenty to play out ahead of Round 1 at HoopsFest in Perth, but each club will have an eye on their starting five for that all-important season-opener.

NBL Media's Pete Hooley takes a look at how each team could line up. 

>> NBL25 Roster Tracker: Every signing, extension and departure

PG: Kendric Davis
SG: DJ Vasiljevic
SF: Sunday Dech
PF: Jarell Martin
C: Isaac Humphries

When healthy, Adelaide is poised to have one of the most dynamic starting lineups across the league. The versatility and size they have in the front court could be a matchup nightmare for teams, once they find their identity.

Adding Sunday Dech to the offensive mix gives them a point-of-attack defender to throw at the opposition's best guard.

With Kendric Davis and DJ Vasiljevic in the backcourt, it’s an offensive duo that will provide fireworks night in and night out.

Isaac Humphries.

PG: James Batemon
SG: Sam McDaniel
SF: Casey Prather
PF: Josh Bannan
C: Tyrell Harrison

While Brisbane’s starting unit looks somewhat familiar to last season, they have made some important changes to bolster their line-up before NBL25. Bringing in a high-quality attacking point guard in James Batemon should take a lot of the scoring pressure off Casey Prather and Josh Bannan.

With a full off-season now into Prather, if he can be anywhere close to the best version we know of him, then Bullets fans will have plenty of reason to be excited.

Add the defensive tenacity of Sam McDaniel to the mix, who should once again be contending for Defensive Player of the Year, and it looks as though the Bullets have the right pieces to complement each other in their starting unit.

Sam McDaniel.

PG: Taran Armstrong
SG: Rob Edwards
SF: Pedro Bradshaw
PF: Sam Waardenburg
C: Tanner Groves

Cairns' starting lineup is a relatively unknown experiment at this point in time, due to the influx of new faces brought into the team.

One thing we can expect for certain is for Taran Armstrong to lead from the front, after he finished his rookie season strong back in NBL24.

Another is that Adam Forde is expecting Sam Waardenburg to thrive back in his natural position as a power forward, after being inconsistent throughout last year.

The incoming imports, on paper, all look to be great complementary pieces to each other under Forde’s system for the Taipans. Combining all that, with the history of the way Cairns usually play under Forde, and the Snakes are always a tough proposition.

Sam Waardenburg.

PG: Trey Kell III
SG: Tyler Harvey
SF: Wani Swaka-Lo-Buluk
PF: Lachlan Olbrich
C: Sam Froling

With the loss of Gary Clark, the Hawks look like they have decided to run it back with what they have and give young gun Lachlan Olbrich a chance to break out.

With that being said, a lot of the Hawks firepower is going to once again fall on the shoulders of Sam Froling and Tyler Harvey.

Incoming guard Trey Kell III, was phenomenal running the point for Adelaide last season, and now will also be required to be a consistent offensive threat.

Justin Tatum isn’t afraid to mix up the starting small forward, so expect to see Hyunjung Lee get some opportunities as well.

Tyler Harvey.

PG: Shea Ili
SG: Matthew Dellavedova
SF: Chris Goulding
PF: Jack White
C: Marcus Lee

The more things change for Melbourne, the more they stay the same. With some major losses in the off-season, they bring back some familiar faces that have already had a big impact previously for the club.

Marcus Lee is the ultimate trust guy for Dean Vickerman, who they know will do the dirty work, compete defensively and finish around the rim.

What this means for United is that Jack White will be expected to take more offensive responsibility going forward than he previously showed two seasons ago. With Chris Goulding, Ian Clark and Matthew Dellavedova as their main scorers returning from last year, look for White to step up as a major offensive threat in this starting lineup.

Jack White.

PG: Parker Jackson-Cartwright
SG: Matt Mooney
SF: Mojave King
PF: Jonah Bolden
C: Freddie Gillespie

Enter another new era for the Breakers whose entire team looks different, including their starting lineup and head coach.

By retaining Parker Jackson-Cartwright they are already a step ahead, as he showed last year that he is one of the most dynamic players in the competition.

What the Breakers have then done well in the offseason is to recruit complementary pieces around him, to make his life easier.

If Freddie Gillespie can produce anything like what Dererk Pardon did for New Zealand two seasons ago, they can have some success in the two-man game.

Then there are players like Mojave King and Jonah Bolden, who will be looking to take advantage of added freedom and responsibility in their new roles.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

PG: Tai Webster
SG: Bryce Cotton
SF: Dylan Windler
PF: Kristian Doolittle
C: Keanu Pinder

The Wildcats are in a very strong position heading into the season, largely thanks to the continuity in their roster from a team that fell four wins short of a championship last season.

A starting lineup that includes four players from last season and an elite wing shooter/scorer is a strong looking proposition. They also have the versatility to slide their defensive weapon, Kristian Doolittle, down to the small forward and let the exciting Next Star prospect Izan Almansa start at the power forward.

With Bryce Cotton and Keanu Pinder carrying a big scoring load, the Wildcats look very well balanced heading into the season.

Keanu Pinder.

PG: Derrick Walton Jr
SG: Nathan Sobey
SF: Joe Wieskamp
PF: Matt Hurt
C: Jordan Hunter

Even though South East Melbourne lost an MVP candidate in Mitch Creek, their starting lineup has them as one of the major winners this offseason.

Adding two dynamic playmaking guards in Derrick Walton Jr and Nathan Sobey together in the backcourt, expect the Phoenix to be one of the best scoring teams in NBL25.

It’s no secret what kind of players they brought in around those two guards, with Joe Wieskamp and Matt Hurt able to stretch the floor as two elite shooters.

Holding down the center spot is Jordan Hunter, widely regarded as one of the best rolling big men in the league.

Looking at that finished puzzle and the starting unit for the Phoenix has some serious firepower.

Nathan Sobey.

PG: Jaylen Adams
SG: Bul Kuol
SF: Alex Toohey
PF: Xavier Cooks
C: Cam Oliver

On paper the Sydney Kings have the best starting unit of any team in the competition for this season. That’s not a debate, it’s just a fact.

They have two past league MVP winners in Xavier Cooks and Jaylen Adams leading the way. Then they also managed to bring in one of the best two-way players in Bul Kuol and get an All-NBL Second teamer in Cam Oliver to return to Australia.

There’s no denying how talented this starting line-up is and how damaging they could be when they put it all together. Right now the one thing they need is pre-season time and if they get it to click early, will be very hard to beat.

Xavier Cooks.

PG: Jordon Crawford
SG: Milton Doyle
SF: Anthony Drmic
PF: Majok Deng
C: Will Magnay

There’s no doubt that losing Jack McVeigh is a significant loss for the reigning Champs, and this could be one of those starting lineups that changes a lot throughout the season because of that.

There has been some talk of them starting small and versatile with Craig Sword at the power forward, and while that might be their strongest defensive lineup, expect to see Majok Deng slide into that position more.

The promising sign for Tasmania is that Will Magnay is back and will hold it down as the best defensive big man in the league, which instantly makes the rest of the team stronger defensively as well.

Will Magnay.