Kai Sotto to play next season in Australia’s NBL after signing multi-year deal with Adelaide 36ers

Adelaide 36ers announced on Monday that they secured the services of Kai Sotto starting next season after the 18-year old, 7’2” teen prodigy from the Philippines signed with them as a Special Restricted Player on a two-year deal, with an option for a third.

Kai, on his part, made the announcement during a virtual press conference with representatives from Philippine media as he was introduced as the newest ambassador of Smart.

Kai is expected to be in Australia just in time for the pre-season in August.

Kai being part of the SRP rule is deemed as local in the league and won’t count as an import in the team’s roster.

Sotto’s decision to join the NBL is a giant leap towards his NBA dream as Lamelo Ball and RJ Hampton, two top rookies from the recent NBA draft, and as well as their team’s very own Josh Giddey, who is a projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA draft, took the “Australian way” to the NBA.

The Chairman and General Manager of the Adelaide 36ers warmly welcome the teen sensation in a statement released on the team’s official website.

Chairman Grant Kelley said, "We are delighted to welcome Kai, both to the Club and the City of Adelaide. Attracting a player of Kai's potential from Asia, and more recently the United States, to Adelaide will only enhance the Club's reputation for identifying and developing elite basketball talent."

Adelaide 36ers General Manager of Basketball Jeff Van Groningen continued, “Kai realises that he has work ahead of him as all rookies do when coming in to this tough league, but his combination of height and developing skill-set give him every chance to raise his game. With hard work, his ceiling for growth is very high."

 
The 36ers have been in the NBL since 1982 and are currently on a 19-year title drought. They currently have a 10-14 record in the league which is good at seventh place out of nine teams in the ongoing 2020-21 NBL season.

The team once laid their feet on Philippine court as they played a tune-up game against Gilas Pilipinas, Ateneo de Manila University and TNT Ka-Tropa last 2019.

Image from Adelaide 36ers