"That team's going to the Championship Series"

“I will walk from Brisbane to Perth if they don’t make it into the Championship Series.”

It’s quite the statement when Sydney’s new-look roster hasn’t even hit the court yet, but Derek Rucker says the Kings off-season recruiting has been “outstanding” and they deserve to be early championship favourites.

Jaylen Adams is the latest star to put pen-to-paper on a new deal, following the signings of NBL23 MVP Xavier Cooks, excitement machine Cam Oliver and NBL22 Rookie of the Year, Bul Kuol.

Sydney hasn’t messed around as it looks to bounce back from a disappointing season.

“Everyone laughed at me six weeks ago … I said the Sydney Kings are going be in the Championship Series next season,” Rucker said on The Marketplace.

“This was before they even started to add more Free Agency pieces.

“That team’s going to the Championship Series ... I will walk from Brisbane to Perth if they don’t make it into the Championship Series. 

“An outstanding job by everyone involved there, and that’s the way you bounce back from adversity or from a bad season.

“If you’re a top-level franchise, you don’t mess around and bring everybody back and hope things get better. You act, you’re progressive and you get things done.

“That is a banging lineup.”

Rucker also praised Next Star Alex Toohey, who at just 20 years old, looms as a key pillar in the Kings’ starting five for NBL25.

But according to the 1990 scoring champion and league MVP, Adams is the man with the biggest upside.

“Last season we did not see the best of him, but the Kings have decided to go back with him again and I’m all for the move. I think it’s outstanding,” Rucker said.

“They know what he’s about and they understand under this coach, Brian Goorjian … Brian Goorjian is not going to present the same problems that Jaylen Adams had last year.”

Adams’ numbers certainly don’t read like those of someone who had a poor season. He averaged 19.5 points, 5.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds a game. But it’s fair to say, he just wasn’t quite the same player as his MVP year in NBL22.

“Not to say that I’m absolving Jaylen of any responsibility or accountability for what happened last year in Sydney, but sometimes players and coaches, and in particular point guards and coaches don’t see eye-to-eye. Some athletes can be adversely impacted by that failed relationship.

“That’s what we saw with Adams. That won’t be the case this season in Sydney. He’ll be back to an MVP level.”