Jack's Back: McVeigh resigns with Taipans for NBL27

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It's been a season to forget – again – for the Cairns Taipans, but the silver lining is that former NBA star Jack McVeigh has re-signed for NBL27.

"Definitely excited about what we’re trying to build," McVeigh said.

"I trust in what we’re doing. From a club front, I’ve loved being here. My family’s been treated with so much respect and consideration. I’ve loved living here, too.

"It’s like the trinity of what you want as a person showing up to a job every day. Really excited, happy about it, and definitely very grateful as well."

McVeigh, 29, celebrated the birth of his first child with wife Beth during the NBL26 season after /news/jack-mcveigh-signs-two-year-deal-in-nbl-with-cairns-taipanswith the Far North Queensland club.

"For me, it’s the day-to-day process. We come in, and I feel like we get better every day. It’s not based on results – there’s a plan, and we execute that plan," he said.

"Some years it might not go the way you want, but that’s something I’m willing to follow. I’ve been in clubs and programs where it’s fire, chaos, crazy – players fighting in practice – all the madness that comes with losing. That didn’t happen here.

"I said to the boys afterwards, we didn’t win tonight (against Melbourne United), but compared to the last time Melbourne came in here, that’s a credit to the process of us getting better.

"We didn’t even play that well tonight, and that’s a credit to our improvement over the season."

The Taipans (9-23) will finish second last this season after an injury-riddled campaign but McVeigh's numbers have been All-NBL First Team elite:

• ‍GP: 28 │ PPG: 21.8 │ FGA: 15.1 │ FGM: 7.6 │ FG%: 50 │ 3PA: 6.7 │ 3PM: 2.5 │ 3P%: 37 │ FTA: 4.6 │ FTM: 4.0 │ FT%: 88 │ APG: 4.0 │ BPG: 0.6 │ SPG: 0.5 │ TPG: 2.4 │ RPG: 6.3 │ F: 1.9

"Massive for the club," Cairns head coach Adam Forde said.

"When you scale it in terms of the timeline, last year it was the big domino to fall late July, right?

"Now to have that piece in February, early on, it’s good for multiple reasons. Obviously having a marquee-level player like Jack return – with the season that we’ve had as well – is huge for the club and the community."

Cairns now have the whole off-season to build their roster around McVeigh.

"It’s important now to construct the right pieces around him," Forde added.

"You go to market early and aggressive and hard on what that local contingent looks like.

"When you’ve got arguably one of the best players in the league and he’s a four-man, it’s like, okay – what kind of five? What kind of three, two, one? Everybody else that fits around that.

"Then you move into the depth of the bench. I’ll use Melbourne as an example – they went 12 deep in the first quarter and the only person who didn’t play was Tom Wilson, and then he nails a massive three in the second half.

"So being able to hone in on what that depth looks like, that’s going to complement Jack and his game.

"It’s massive when it comes to timing."

Cairns takes on the New Zealand Breakers in the last game for both clubs on Thursday, February 19, 2026 in New Zealand.