The NBA preseason is set to begin for the Phoenix Suns and many other teams. During this time, some teams have a chance to travel to different countries and put on a show for international fans. While that happens, other squads get to stay in the US and play comfortably at their homecourts. But to spice things up, the league invites teams from other national basketball leagues to participate in an exhibition game.
This year, the Suns will host the Adelaide 36ers at the Footprint Center on October 2nd to kickstart their preseason. For those not unfamiliar, the 36ers are a team in the Australian basketball league, the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the former team of Oklahoma City Thunder’s promising young star Josh Giddey. The 36ers’ roster doesn’t boast any outstanding talent as of now. However, there’s one prospect that could catch the eyes of some NBA scouts.
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The 7-foot-2 Filipino center Kai Sotto is back for another season with Adelaide. Sotto declared for the draft late in April 2022. During the Draft Combine, he performed workouts with several teams and throughout the process, his former agent Joel Bell hyped the young big man’s possibility of getting drafted. But Kai Sotto was not selected in June and had no choice but to return to the 36ers for another season.
Phoenix Suns’ preseason opener will offer NBA fans their first look at prospect Kai Sotto
Despite this, there’s still hope for Sotto to be able to achieve his NBA dreams. The 36ers’ match against the Suns will only be an exhibition game, but even so, it’s another chance for the Filipino prospect to show a much-larger audience what he can offer on the court.
During his first year with the Australian team, Sotto only averaged 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds on 50% from the field and 38% from three-point range. It’s not as impressive as some prospect’s statistics, but it shows how skilled the big man is.
One concern that might hinder all of this from happening is Sotto’s playing time. During his first season with the team, he only averaged 15 minutes the entire season. I’m assuming that most of his minutes came from the last moments of blowout games. If the coach does decide to play the 2022 NBL Fans MVP, scouts might see his on-court brilliance and consider signing him.
Overall, Sotto has to perform his best during their game against the Phoenix Suns. It might be his ticket to fulfilling his NBA dream. Hopefully, the coaches will play him for more than 15 minutes during their game to give Sotto an experience of a lifetime. This way, he’ll be able to attain his “Kaiju” moniker.