'Thought it was over': Dalton reignites NBL dream

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Callum Dalton's road back to the NBL has been a rocky one to say the least.

In the last four years the son of former Boomers big man and NBL legend Mark Dalton has torn his ACL while with Melbourne United, been left without a professional contract, dominated the NBL1, had interesting stops in Luxembourg and India as well as a short stint in the NZNBL - all before marking his return to the league as a nominated injury replacement player for the Brisbane Bullets for the 2025-26 season.

It's been along and windy road that made Dalton doubt whether he would ever get a second chance to crack the NBL.

"I thought it was over plenty of times," the 25-year-old told basketball.com.au.

"Offseason for fringe NBL guys goes for like, I don't know, it feels like all year round. It's just like non-stop waiting.

"So, I definitely felt like my time may have passed but I've been pretty lucky.

"The Bullets always had an open door for me to practice with them. Even the years where I've never necessarily been in the umbrella and I've gone overseas and whatnot.

"Just being able to practice and stay involved, and I feel like just staying in front of those eyes was great for me."

The 207cm big man said playing four games as an injury replacement for the Bullets last season helped reignite his motivation to earn a bigger shot at that level.

"I walked out of the four games feeling like I can do it," he said.

"I probably wasn't sure before that. I'd gone overseas, played pretty well overseas but the opportunity (in the NBL) hadn't come.

"I got those four games and we had all those injuries and I said 'just go play' and then I walked away out of that feeling like I could do this. I can definitely get back in and contribute. So, it feels good, especially over the past year."

Dalton, who last played for the Bullets as a development player in the 2020-21 season, impressed at the NBL Blitz in Canberra and could play more of a role than first expected with recruit Stephen Holt expected to miss some time through injury.

The Logan Thunder NBL1 star and rebounds leader in the NBL1 North said he was just taking it game by game.

"It's like I'm just taking it as a foot in the door. Not necessarily that I'm back but I've got an opportunity to solidify being back," he said.

"I don't know how many games I'm going to play but I've just got to take every game, one by one, just take it as it goes and hopefully I'll do enough that next year it's a full-time gig and we'll go from there."

Dalton also said the confidence the Bullets coaching staff, especially head coach Stu Lash, has put in him has helped

"They've been really big on me playing with confidence. Weirdly, I've got a bit of a green light," he said.

"It's just like, be aggressive, if I can score, score, set big screens and try to be really aggressive on defence. That's what I'm just trying to do - hit guys and score, set good screens and hit the boards.

"But it's been cool, playing with a green light is something new in the NBL to me."

When he looks back at some of his interesting stops along the way, including stints in Luxembourg and India, Dalton said those experiences made him cherish playing in the NBL even more.

"I've got so many stories (from overseas), some crazy situations. I went through everything that you can go through overseas," he said.

"It made me appreciate the little things you get here. Like, getting a message, that doesn't happen in those leagues. Stuff like that. It's just little things.

"I'm hoping I can stay, I don't want to go back. I'm happy where I am."

Brisbane Bullets (Roster Complete)

Head Coach: Stu Lash

Potential Line-up

1. ‍PG: Jaylen Adams (IP) | Mitch Norton
2. SG: Javon Freeman-Liberty | Taine Murray | Tristan Devers (DP)‍
3. SF: Alex Ducas | Sam McDaniel | Jack Purchase
4. PF: Casey Prather (IP) | Jacob Holt | Jensen Bradtke (DP)‍
5. C: Tyrell Harrison | Tohni Smith-Miller | Callum Dalton (IRP)

IP: Import
DP: Development Player
IRP: Injury Replacement Player

Incoming Players

• Callum Dalton (Injury replacement player)
• Javon Freeman-Liberty (from Windy City Bulls)
• Jaylen Adams (from Sydney Kings – Import)
• Alex Ducas (from Oklahoma City Thunder – NBA)
• Jack Purchase (from Melbourne Tigers - NBL1)
• Taine Murray (from University of Virginia – NCAA)
• Jacob Holt (from Sacramento State University – NCAA)
• Jensen Bradtke (from University of Montana – NCAA)

Departed Players

• Isaac White (to Adelaide 36ers)
• James Batemon (to Hiopos Lleida – Spain)
• Josh Bannan (to Tasmania JackJumpers)
• Keandre Cook (to CB Breogán – Spain)
• Kye Savage
• Rocco Zikarsky (to Minnesota Timberwolves – NBA)