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19
Sep
Team Reveal
Cash cows fuel my SuperCoach Classic H2H title bid
basketball.com.au Senior Editor Peter Brown reveals his SuperCoach NBL Classic Team.
Podcasts
Entry-priced imports and Round 1 doubles drive my long-game SuperCoach NBL strategy for NBL27.
- Cash generation shapes my SuperCoach NBL team for NBL27
- Four entry-priced imports start during the opening round
- Skylar Mays becomes Cole Anthony under my planned trade
The long game – that's my SuperCoach NBL Classic team for NBL27.
Head-to-head sledging is my goal this season, and stacking Cash Cows is how this team is built. The first round is about total points, this team is built different.
Four starters in Round 1 are all entry-priced imports that I'm banking on will all go up in price. At the moment, NBL Next Star Dash Daniels ($115,000) is on the bench but with Nathan Sobey ($479,600) out injured for at least the Phoenix's first clash against Perth, his double points – and minutes – might just tip out Arnas Velicka ($277,000). Perth goes into Round 1 with import Brandon Knight ($277,000) and back-up point guard Jaron Rillie ($177,100), who is injured.
The Phoenix has the advantage in the backcourt.
But Velicka is the one for me in NBL27. I was high on the Lithuanian point guard even before Will Weaver's exclusive interview with Jason Cadee on Cut to the Jase. He's going to pile up SuperCoach NBL points and price.
Skylar Mays ($277,000) gets the nod only because of his double-header Round 1 but then the $69,500 cap room is enough to bring in Melbourne United's Cole Anthony ($300,000) next week. My backcourt will ultimately cost $577,000 against Bryce Cotton ($473,900), Kendric Davis ($436,000), Parker Jackson-Cartwright ($405,200) and Sobey.
Melbourne United's Josh Oduro ($277,000) has SuperCoach NBL star written all over him. The American forward had 88 points in 54 minutes at the NBL27 Blitz while D'Shawn Schwartz ($277,000) gets the start on the back of the double-header.
My SuperCoach NBL27 team
| Player (price) | Club | Pos | NBL26 | Priced on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Mennenga ($303,100) (C) | New Zealand BreakersNZL | FWD/CTR | 29.22 (27) | His 2025-26 average |
| Arnas Velicka ($277,000) | Brisbane BulletsBRI | GRD | – | Standard import rate |
| D'Shawn Schwartz ($277,000) | South East Melbourne PhoenixSEM | FWD | – | Standard import rate |
| Josh Oduro ($277,000) | Melbourne UnitedMEL | FWD/CTR | – | Standard import rate |
| Skylar Mays ($277,000) | South East Melbourne PhoenixSEM | GRD | – | Standard import rate |
| Jonah Bolden ($133,600) | Cairns TaipansCNS | CTR/FWD | 12.88 (8) | His 2025-26 average |
| Akech Aliir ($125,300) | South East Melbourne PhoenixSEM | FWD/CTR | 12.08 (25) | His 2025-26 average |
| Dash Daniels ($115,000) | South East Melbourne PhoenixSEM | GRD | 9.55 (33) | Next Star, not his record |
| Shaun Bruce ($76,500) | Cairns TaipansCNS | GRD | 7.37 (27) | His 2025-26 average |
| Ben Gold ($69,000) | Tasmania JackJumpersTAS | FWD/CTR | – | Tier 4 Local rate |
| Squad value | $1,930,500 of $2,000,000 · $69,500 left | |||
How each of these prices was set, and what a flat rate does not tell you
Six of the ten are on a rate, not a record. Four are on the standard import rate of $277,000, which is what every new import costs. Ben Gold is on the $69,000 local rate. Neither figure says anything about the individual player. The best new import in the league and the worst are on the same $277,000, and nothing in the price separates them.
Dash Daniels is the odd one. He has 33 games and a 9.55 average, so he looks like a player priced on his record, and he is not. Both Next Stars in the game cost exactly $115,000: Daniels, with a full season behind him, and one other with no NBL record at all. A price that is identical across those two is not coming from the record. That is an observation about two players rather than a published rate, and we are not calling it one.
The other four are priced on their average, and you can see it in the table. Divide each price by each average and they land within a whisker of one another: $10,372 per point for Sam Mennenga, $10,372 for Akech Aliir, $10,376 for Jonah Bolden, $10,379 for Shaun Bruce. Four players, three clubs, prices four times apart, one rate. Daniels works out at $12,047, which is 16 per cent clear of it.
A dash is not a zero. 5 players show a dash in the NBL26 column. The price file records no 2025-26 average for them, which means they did not play in the NBL last season, not that they averaged nothing. Printing 0.0 would invent a performance.
The rules this is measured against. Ten players, exactly four guards, four forwards and two centres; five start and five sit; a $2 million cap that is a hard blocker rather than a warning; and the captain scores double. This squad fills those slots and comes in $69,500 under the cap. Which five start is not shown, because it was not supplied.
Player names here are not linked, which is deliberate. A SuperCoach profile link needs an internal player number that the official price file does not carry, and we would rather give you no link than one that opens the wrong player.
Where this comes from. Every price, average, games figure, club and position here is from the official SuperCoach NBL price file, read on 2026-09-18, and the rates quoted are the ones it publishes. Prices move once the season starts, so these are right as at that date and not afterwards. Team supplied by the coach, 18 September 2026.
