United Look to Complete Puzzle

By Dan Woods - NBL Media

Melbourne United had an almighty task replacing its departing stars, but the recent signings of Rayjon Tucker, Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Isaac Humphries have gone a long way towards filling that void.

Matthew Dellavedova, Jo Lual-Acuil and Jack White all left the club over the past month, but it seems like things are looking up for last year's ladder-leader. 

With two roster spots still remaining, coach Dean Vickerman is keen to fill the "the last major piece of the puzzle". 

“It’s a tough one to try and get all the skillset of Jack White, or do we look at something a bit different,” Vickerman told United's website. 

“This is the last major piece of the puzzle right now and we’re going to be patient with it to make sure we get the age profile, the size, the shooting and the defence we want to get out of that position.

“The first part of any off-season is to look within and retain the core of what you’ve got. That one was challenged a little bit this year with needing to be patient with ‘Delly’, with Jack, with Jo – some really core guys over the last couple of years.

“It’s a critical one to make sure we get right … but there are some really exciting things happening.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Off the back of our latest signing, Dean Vickerman has provided an offseason update - breaking down what fans can expect from our newest recruits &amp; how these players slot into our current NBL23 roster. <br><br>? Stay tuned for more announcements in the coming days!<a href="https://twitter.com/DreamstreetAU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DreamstreetAU</a> <a href="https://t.co/deFQWPoA7W">pic.twitter.com/deFQWPoA7W</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1554753943804301313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 3, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The departure of Dellavedova will likely result in a vastly increased role for backup point-guard Shea Ili.

He won last season's Sixth Man of the Year voting, with new teammate and former Illawarra guard Rathan-Mayes surely not far behind. 

Along with the additions of former Milwaukee guard Tucker, Darwin Salties wing Makuach Maluach and star veteran Chris Goulding, Melbourne looks to have rounded out the guard rotation, and Vickerman is excited to see the versatility this new unit can provide.

“It’s important when we tried to replace some of these guys (Dellavedova, White and Lual-Acuil) that at least one of the guys had some NBL experience,” Vickerman said.

“’X’ (Rathan-Mayes) as I think we’ll end up calling him had a really quality season at [Illawarra]. He’s a good six-four so Shea and ‘X’ at point guard we think can be a really good combination.

“(Tucker) has a pretty deep toolbox both defensively and offensively. He can guard one through four, he’s a really strong body and a great athlete. Both his ability to play well in transition and make the three was a combination we really liked.

“(Maluach) is a super athlete and he took a different path had an amazing college career where he scored heavily, went to Europe for one year and now he’s back in the NBL1 playing for Darwin … there’s minutes there in the backup two/three … [he’s a] pretty exciting talent we’re looking forward to getting in our gym.”