NBL legend Bryce Cotton is set to announce a bombshell move to the Adelaide 36ers just two months after turning down a monster contract offer from the Perth Wildcats.
Cotton has reportedly agreed a three-year deal with the Sixers, which could be confirmed as soon as Friday.
Adelaide appeared to hint at the American guard’s signing in a social media post on Thursday evening.
The post included apparent references to Cotton’s five NBL MVP seasons and his six tallies of 40 or more points in the most recent campaign.
Cotton has ties to the Sixers through coach Mike Wells, who was an assistant at NBA team Utah Jazz when the sharpshooter was there.
Adelaide also have plenty of salary cap space after Kendric Davis joined the Sydney Kings.
Fellow import and former NBA player Montrezl Harrell is not signed for next season.
A move to the Sixers would be a significant backflip from Cotton, who previously declared he would not play for another Australian team.
“Nah, I don’t think that’s a possibility for me,” Cotton said in March after ending his nine-year association with Perth.
The Wildcats had reportedly offered Cotton a deal that would have made him the highest-paid player in NBL history.
After turning it down, Cotton was widely tipped to move overseas and was linked with a move to Japan under former Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson.
Cotton, a three-time championship-winner, is widely considered one of the greatest players in league history.
He has won the Andrew Gaze Trophy as the NBL’s MVP five times, with only Gaze himself named the league’s best player more often (seven times).
Cotton was the Wildcats’ club MVP a record seven times and is an eight-time NBL scoring champion.
He is coming off one of the greatest individual seasons in NBL history, when he averaged 28.1 points per game.
Cotton’s remarkable scoring run included six games with 40 or more points in the regular season, including 59 against NZ Breakers in December.
Cotton has been playing on a short-term deal for Mets de Guaynabo in Puerto Rico since the NBL season ended in March.
https://thewest.com.au/sport/basketball/nbl-legend-bryce-cotton-set-for-bombshell-sixers-move-c-18782319
