Armstrong still '100 percent' locked in on NBA return

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Tasmania JackJumpers star guard Taran Armstrong has declared he is still "100 percent" locked in on getting back to the NBA.

"I'm always striving to level up and get better, and the NBA is the pinnacle of basketball, so of course I'd want to get there," Armstrong, 24, told SEN Tassie ahead of the NBL27 Media Day today in Melbourne.

"I'm still young enough where, if I do a really good job and manage to find my way through, I could still potentially have a long NBA career.

"It's not something I've put to bed, but it's not something that's at the forefront of my mind either. Again, it's one of those things where you have to live day by day and continue to improve.

"Those things happen organically. They aren't things that you can manufacture or force to happen.

"Either it will or it won't. I'll work as hard as I can and see if it does."

The 1.96m Tasmanian guard played 42 games for the Cairns Taipans before being signed as a two-way player by Stephen Curry's Golden State Warriors in 2025. He played 11 regular-season games for the Warriors G League affiliate Santa Cruz as well as a play-off game, where he had 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists in 34 minutes.

Armstrong signed with Dubai in the ABA League but seldom played, appearing in just 11 games and averaging 2.8 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 14.5 minutes per game.

He signed with the Tasmania JackJumpers, much to the excitement of their fans, early in the off-season, while also being given a qualifying offer by the Golden State Warriors.

It caused some chatter about Armstrong potentially heading back to California before playing for his home-state JackJumpers.

"Nah," Armstrong answered when asked if that was something for fans to worry about.

"So, that was a process of the NBA. Essentially, all it was was a qualifying offer.

"What that means is NBA teams hold the rights to a lot of different guys, whether they're in the league or not.

"Basically, to retain their rights, they extend qualifying offers to guys they want to have first crack at potentially.

"If, out of the blue, another NBA team was to reach out and offer me a contract, if I was to have signed that qualifying offer, then Golden State has the opportunity to match it.

"It's not really anything, but it just keeps you in their system and things like that."