As sands through the hourglass: Inside Cotton saga

• Wildcats boss Mark Arena reveals the timeline pressure Perth was under after the NBL25 season
• Five-time MVP Bryce Cotton reveals the timeline pressure he was under to make a decision to return to the Wildcats
• Cotton signed with the Adelaide 36ers on a three-year deal after the Wildcats sent him a draft memo stating he wasn't part of their NBL26 squad

Perth Wildcats boss Mark Arena and the five-time NBL MVP Bryce Cotton were not on the same page at the end of NBL25 and it ultimately cost the 10-time champions one of the greatest players in league history.

"We felt we certainly gave Bryce as much time as we could — we probably would have been able to give more time if we didn't have so many players out of contract," Arena said on NBL Now.

Cotton was determined to test free agency in 2025 while Arena was equally determined to build a championship winning roster and confront the challenge of multiple players out of contract.

"As much as people feel — and I say — I left the Wildcats, I didn’t technically leave," Cotton said on the EasyDay Podcast podcast.

“Maybe three or four days after I came to Puerto Rico, they were like, ‘Look, we need an answer.’ They sent an email: ‘We need an answer within the next two or three days whether you’re going to sign your extension or not.’

“I was like, ‘Hold up … you knew all year I’ve been saying I want to test Free Agency.’

“Not being cocky or arrogant, but I just had one of the greatest seasons in NBL history and I’m a Free Agent for the first time ever."

But for Arena, time wasn't on the side of the Wildcats, eliminated from the NBL25 playoffs by Melbourne United in early March, 2025.

"Unfortunately, it's one of those years when we have over two thirds of our roster out of contract and, you know, that's a massive thing," Arena said,

"And unfortunately that's because, the NBL, for all the teams, we're only allowed maximum three year contracts.

"So it happened to be one of the years when a vast majority of the team was out and the reality is any team that has Bryce on it will look different to a team without and our roster is no exception.

"But our role is to build a team that could win a championship and we felt — even now still feel — that we had to move on and start building that team and that roster.

"If you look at what we've done since Bryce, we've re-signed Kristian Doolittle, Dylan Windler, Sunday Dech, and a number of others, we really had to move on and get moving to build the roster."

It put pressure on Cotton to make a decision he simply wasn't ready to make.

“They were like, ‘Oh, we need an answer, because you’re an integral part of our roster and if you’re not going to be here, we need to know'," Cotton said.

“I had my agent tell me, ‘Give me your answer’ within two to three days after I got to Puerto Rico, and I was like, ‘That’s just not enough time for me to make a decision. I want to test Free Agency. So if you guys feel like you want to move on, I understand. That’s not enough time for me to make a decision. I want to see everything that’s out there.’

“Maybe a week later —if that— my agent sends me a screenshot of basically a rough draft copy memo that they were going to put out to the fans the following day.

“I didn’t even read the whole thing … I read basically the first sentence: 'Bryce Cotton is not going to be part of the Wildcats’ NBL26 squad'.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, OK, you’ve decided to move on and do what’s best for you.’ To me it’s like, no harm, no foul.

“I’m doing what I felt was best for me by just seeing what was out there — not to say I was leaving — but I wanted to see, and you’re doing what’s best for you, doing what’s best for you as a business, because you don’t want to wait, and that’s fine."

It was then Cotton made the decision to post — now deleted — his exit to his Instagram page.

“When I saw that I’m like, ‘No, I’m not going to let you put the word out to the fans. I’ll let them hear it from me first,’ because if that’s what you’ve decided to do —everything I’ve given to this city, everything I’ve given to the club — I’ll tell you first I’m not going to be here,” Cotton revealed.

Arena said he understood Cotton's decision to break the news to Wildcats fans before the club.

"Ultimately it's his career and the same for any player. And they should have the absolute right to tell the fans and members," Arena said.

"So no grudge and any of that. And for ours it was more 'hey, this is the draft and no, do you have any feedback on it'. And based on the feedback from him and his representatives, we did do some changes before we put it out publicly.

"And like I said don't judge him in any way by getting that release out that he put out on Instagram before us at all."

Arena revealed the start of free agency wasn't the first time conversations about a contract extension with discussed with Bryce and his agent.

"I don't push much credence that like Day 1 of free agency is the date," Arena said.

"He has every right to test free agency and look at what other options are available to him. Each player should do what's best for them and their family, and nobody should slight them on that. And he's obviously made a decision to go and play at Adelaide. We all gotta respect that. And he says that's right, best for him and his family and like I said, hundred percent respect that.

‍"The start being, 'we'll just talk at the end of the season' was one, and then we extended and we extended it again. It happened many times. It was just, we didn't have a time frame — a set time frame on it. But at some point, you're talking to other agents of other players and what Bryce does and decides really impacts them and whether they're gonna come back.

"And if we don't start to move on theirs we could be potentially impacted. And we didn't want to end up in a position where we were waiting and waiting and waiting, and we're at a point where other players perhaps started looking elsewhere and signing elsewhere. Because then we would be trying to build a roster with some of our — the key folks we wanted to bring on board — who had already signed up in other clubs."

Cotton understands the Wildcats made a business decision just as much as he did.

“They made the business decision to part ways because they didn’t want to wait … which is fine, but I don’t want to hear all this bitching and complaining when I’m doing what’s best for me, as well as the result,” he said.

“To the Perth fans, from the time I stepped onto this soil and played for the ’Cats, I gave you everything I had — every night, every practice, when I was hurt, when I was healthy.

“I gave it everything I had regardless of the result.

“I always put a lot of expectations on myself because I wanted to try to deliver and bring a lot of joy to the city because of how much joy they brought to me.”

And for Arena, he only had praise for the player that delivered the Western Australian franchise years of success.

"First we just gotta remember how much success we've had with Bryce, right? Arena said.

"How great he's been for the team. Remember the great contribution he's done — three championships, five league MVPs. You know, certainly want to say he's always welcome to Perth. You know, we hope the Red Army doesn't boo him.

"I hope he's applauded — other than when he was shooting free throws, like we do every other opposition player — I would just say, what we're working on — and I can't really talk about any specifics —  a great all round team.

"A bit more defensive-minded, but a more kind of well-rounded team, put a team on the floor that can win a championship. And that's our ultimate goal, right?

"It's a massive decision, horrible decision we had to make, which was wait longer and risk the whole squad and our success or make the hard call and kind of move on and build a roster with plenty of time to do that — that can win a championship because ultimately that's what I'm here for is we have to try and build a team that can win a championship."

On that, they both can agree.