MANILA, Philippines -- The past few months have been rocky for Filipino teenager Kai Sotto, but he appears to have righted the ship while keeping his NBA dream in his sights.
The 18-year-old signed a multi-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL), some two months after he parted ways with the NBA G League's Ignite program. The contract, according to a statement from the club, is for two seasons with an option for a third.
This move allows Sotto to develop further in one of the best leagues in the world while he waits to become eligible for the NBA Rookie Draft. Having just graduated high school a few weeks ago, Sotto is not yet allowed to enter the 2021 draft, but should be good to go for next year.
In a media roundtable on Wednesday, Sotto's agent explained that the 36ers emerged as the "best spot" for the young center who is seeking to become the first homegrown Filipino to make it to the NBA.
"The Australian league is an outstanding league. All you have to do is look at the number of players that have gone from there to the NBA," said agent Joel Bell of Bell Sports Inc., who also represents De'Anthony Melton of the Memphis Grizzlies and Ryan Arcidiacono of the Chicago Bulls, per Hoops Hype.
Bell also hailed the management of the Adelaide team, led by general manager Jeff Van Groningen, and its coaching staff headed by former NBA player Conner Henry.
"They've made an unbelievable commitment toward not just working with Kai as part of the team, but to getting him his own training regimen and diet," said Bell. "It's gonna be a fantastic situation."
'IDEAL LANDING SPOT' FOR KAI SOTTO
Adelaide's coach Henry briefly played in the NBA but spent more time in minor leagues and overseas. He started coaching in 2001, and had stints in the NBA G League (formerly the NBA D League) where he earned a Coach of the Year award with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Having signed with the 36ers in 2020, Henry is looking forward to working with Sotto, whom he said has a "really high upside."
"We think we have the structure in place to be an ideal landing spot for Kai in his development," Henry told reporters.
According to Henry, he and his coaching staff did their due diligence on Sotto when the Filipino player's name came up a few months ago as a potential recruit for the 36ers. Just from what they saw on the teenager's game film, the Adelaide coaching staff was "immediately excited."
"He's got a really solid feel for the game. He does the little things within the game already that, those types of things, you can't really teach," Henry said of Sotto. "You can try, but when you see elite players already possess a really solid feel for the game, as coaches you get excited about it."
"There are certain parts of his game that will develop over the time, as he matures physically," he added. "But he's got great hands, he's able to shoot the ball from range, he's developing an inside game. He ball fakes, he throws clever passes."
Once Sotto is with the 36ers, Henry expects the young center to sharpen his skills even further while also getting stronger physically.
The coach warned that there will be road bumps, especially as Sotto will play against "grown men" in the NBL, but the team will be there to help him navigate these obstacles.
"There will be days that are really good days, and then there will be days that won't be so good, just because, one, he's fatigued. Two, he's getting beaten up at times," said Henry. "But we really feel like we have an outstanding plan for him on the development side."
"So he's got a really, really high upside. We see that, and he's a great kid, and we can't wait to get him here."
'ON THE PATH'
Van Groningen, the general manager of the 36ers, is confident that they can help Sotto achieve his dream of making it to the NBA -- primarily because they already have experience in that regard. There have been plenty of players who used the NBL as a jump-off point of sorts to make it to the NBA.
Notably, LaMelo Ball played a season for the Illawarra Hawks before he was selected third overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2020 NBA Draft. RJ Hampton, the 24th overall pick, played for the New Zealand Breakers last year.
"When Conner and I discussed this chance to be part of Kai Sotto's journey, we really drew upon the fact that we've just been through many of these things with a young player in terms of helping him develop, helping him get to where he wants to go," said Van Groningen.
While he acknowledged that each player's journey is different, Van Groningen is also optimistic that Sotto can follow in the footsteps of Ball and Hampton and make the jump to the NBA.
"The young man is on the path," the executive said.
"He has work to do, he's aware of the work that's ahead of him. But he's also a talented and gifted young guy, that has the physical attributes as well as the interest in the game and the love for the game, and great people around him, and parents that want him to do well," he explained. "A father that played professionally, an agent that has represented many NBA players."
"When you start to add those ingredients together with what we believe we can give him here in Adelaide, with solid leadership, great coaching, a specific personal development coach that we are appointing to work with him, a strength and conditioning guy that comes out of our elite level sporting circles here in Australia that's gonna oversee his strength and conditioning, his diet, his nutrition, his build as far as where he needs to go over the next few years."
The only thing that's left is for Sotto to actually arrive in Adelaide and begin working with the 36ers, he added. According to the team's statement, Sotto is expected to join the club in time for preseason, which is tentatively set for August.
Sotto is still in Miami, where he trains with various coaches and had the opportunity to work with former NBA player Amar'e Stoudemire and former PBA import Lester Prosper.
"I'm very excited," Sotto said of his upcoming stint in the NBL. "It's a different kind of competition, different place."
"Ako naman, para sa akin, ang focus ko lang naman is to develop and also mag-adjust para sa team ko," he added. "I told the coach Conner naman that I'm willing to adjust and that I'm ready to work for my spot and for the team's success."
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