Basket rumors

Sydney Kings veteran Daniel Kickert will suit up for the purple and gold for another season after re-signing with the Club on a one-year deal.

Heading into his seventh NBL season, the sharp-shooter has earned a name for himself for his exceptional offensive efficiency.

In both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons he shot the ball at over 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three point range and 90 percent from the free throw line, becoming the first player in NBL history to join the illustrious ‘50-40-90’ Club.

He played an influential role off the bench last season, helping to lead the Club to their first Grand Final appearance since 2008 and a Minor Premiership, and is looking forward to continuing that success into NBL21.

“We’re very excited to be staying with the Kings for another season” Kickert shared.

“We’ve settled down, and we’re very happy here in Sydney. I’m enjoying the direction the Club is heading and love being a part of it, so for me to have an opportunity to play another year here is both exciting and very rewarding for me”.

Kings Head Coach Will Weaver is also pleased to be welcoming back the experienced leader.

“Daniel Kickert obviously contributes massively on the court, but who he is as a teammate and a leader is what I value the most” Weaver said.

“To keep him, his wife Erica, and their two young daughters as parts of our Kings family is something we’re all thrilled about”.

With changes made earlier this year to reduce the roster size for the NBL21 season, Kickert becomes the Kings tenth signing, with just one roster spot remaining. He is now also the eighth player that the Club has retained from 2019-20 squad which Kickert believes will be a tremendous benefit heading into next season.

“You always want to improve on the things that you did the year before, but I think the ability to pick up from where we left off is going to be a huge advantage for us” Kickert said.

“We’ll change a few things and add new things, but it’s an exciting time at this time of year to be able to experiment a little bit. The continuity and familiarity with each other and the system, it just cuts down on that early stage confusion when teams are trying to gel” Kickert shared.

Weaver agreed the continuity of the roster has proven to be the blueprint for successful NBL teams in the past.

“We obviously want to create a club that players want to play at. The first real test of whether we’ve done that or not is when players have the option to leave, do they?”

“For Dan to be re-joining seven of his teammates from last season, with the potential for more, is certainly something that we don’t take for granted and reflects that we’re on the right track” Weaver shared.

Kickert joins Casper Ware, Brad Newley, Xavier Cooks, Shaun Bruce, Craig Moller, Angus Glover, Dejan Vasiljevic, Jordan Hunter and Didi Louzada as contracted players for the upcoming season.