{"id":581936,"date":"2026-04-03T02:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T02:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581936\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T02:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T02:19:10","slug":"taipans-big-firming-as-united-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581936\/","title":{"rendered":"Taipans big firming as United target"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This off-season looms as a crucial one for Melbourne United, with only six players under contract for next year.<\/p>\n<p>Those six include Chris Goulding, Shea Ili, Kyle Bowen, Fabijan Krslovic, Dash Daniels and Finn Delany (mutual option).<\/p>\n<p>&gt;&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbl.com.au\/news\/report-perths-missing-piece-star-import-emerges-as-prime-target\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Report: Perth\u2019s missing piece? Star Melbourne import emerges as prime target<\/a><\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s also rumours swirling about the future of Dean Vickerman and his aspirations of coaching overseas.<\/p>\n<p>That means the likes of import trio, Tyson Walker, Milton Doyle and Jesse Edwards, are all question marks for next season.<\/p>\n<p>On the latest episode of The Marketplace, presented by Paywise, ESPN\u2019s Olgun Uluc reports that United are planning to go down the path of a local centre during the Hungry Jack\u2019s NBL27 season, instead of using that spot on an import.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMelbourne United had Jesse Edwards at the five spot last season, and we knew that they would probably have to go and get one of those marquee bigs that we&#8217;ve spoken about in the past, like Will Magnay, Sam Mennenga or Sam Waardenburg,\u201d Uluc said on The Marketplace, presented by Paywise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt feels like they&#8217;re a team that&#8217;ll end up as the front-runner for Sam Wardenburg.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig Kiwi, 16 and 6 this last season. Only played eight games, so the durability is a legitimate concern, but the talent is not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know how talented he is, and we know how much Dean Vickerman loves his Kiwis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u200d&gt;&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbl.com.au\/news\/nbl26-championship-series-schedule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Championship Series tickets, schedule &amp; more<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fellow panellist and 2018 NBL Pete Hooley believes Waardenburg would be a great signing for United, who were knocked out in the Play-In Game by Perth this season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think about the Dean Vickerman-type system, the Melbourne United-type system, what they like to do and what&#8217;s been really successful with them in the past, that\u2019s the marquee big man. They Jock Landale and they had JLA (Jo Lual-Acuil Jr.),\u201d Hooley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be able to use that [system], with someone who can step out, shoot the three-ball, can play on both ends and put the ball on the floor, would be a very strong signing if they can get it done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talk about Sam Waardenburg a whole lot and mentioned on the last Marketplace that it [a return] was never going to happen in Cairns.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>As NBL commentator Jack Heverin points out, this potential signing is interesting when you consider that Finn Delany\u2019s future is still unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Uluc is also intrigued by what the potential signing of Waardenburg does for United\u2019s team makeup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirstly, you&#8217;re looking at what they do with Shea Ili and Chris Goulding, and where they sit,\u201d Uluc said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot on the team, they&#8217;ll be on the team, but in the rotation where they sit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what imports they [United] go with. Locking in a local at the five spot allows you to be more creative with your imports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s what United can do now, while it\u2019s something they couldn&#8217;t do last season because of Jesse Edwards. While talented, it [an import big man like Edwards] does hamstring you a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While it seems that Edwards won\u2019t be returning, Uluc reports that fellow United import Walker might also be out the door, with two other NBL sides keen on his signature.<\/p>\n<p>A change might also be in the air for NBA Draft hopeful Dash Daniels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is some smoke around Dash Daniels being interested in a move down the highway to the South East Melbourne Phoenix,\u201d Uluc said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Phoenix, from what I know, are quite interested in Dash Daniels. There have been meetings between the two parties, so that is something that would surprise me if it didn&#8217;t eventuate sometime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hooley believes a move to the Heartland club could \u2018accelerate his growth\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no surprise that all that the Phoenix would have interest in him [Daniels],\u201d Hooley said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlso, probably no surprise that the Dash and Melbourne United say let&#8217;s do what&#8217;s best for you. And if that is to go down the highway, depending on what we&#8217;ve got.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChris Golding is still there [at United], as is Shea Ili. He doesn&#8217;t play the same position [as them], but in terms of him [Daniels] accelerating his growth, it would make a whole lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Game 5 of the Championship Series tips off at 2.30pm AEST on Sunday at Qudos Bank Arena, live on ESPN and 10.<\/p>\n<p>\u200d&gt;&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbl.com.au\/news\/nbl26-championship-series-schedule\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Championship Series tickets, schedule &amp; more<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775182750_826_69ba3d951d002ba2b025a249_NBL26 Finals_Champs_Article Banner_1290x250.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This off-season looms as a crucial one for Melbourne United, with only six players under contract for next&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-581936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}