Sam Mennenga signed with the NZ Breakers for the 2024-25 Australian NBL seaso.
Sam Mennenga has been bought out of his final year with the Cairns Taipans to join the NZ Breakers.
The bruising Kiwi forward is Mody Maor’s first signing in what is set to be a busy off-season.
Mennenga joins the pipeline of hoops talent who have come to the Breakers out of Westlake Boys High.
The New Zealand Breakers have put their money where their mouth is, bringing potential Kiwi forward Sam Mennenga back home to play basketball in the Australian NBL.
The Breakers announced the 2.06-metre, 22-year-old Aucklander as their first signing for the Australian NBL off-season on Friday. He went to school just 5 kilometers down the road from the organization’s practice facility and has always dreamed of playing in front of a full Spark Arena in the club colors.
To do so, they had to purchase the bruising forward out of the second year of his current contract with the Cairns Taipans, a price they were willing to pay to bring a high-level Kiwi home to play in New Zealand.
Undoubtedly, having the now-retired Tom Abercrombie’s contract off the books helped, as did the need to move quickly to form the foundation of the new roster.
“The foundation of the Breakers is New Zealand basketball and we want to have the ‘most fitting’ kiwis wearing the Breakers’ jersey,” coach Mody Maor said in announcing the signing.
“It doesn’t mean we need a roster which is only comprised of New Zealand basketball players, but we try to pull out all stops to get Kiwis we feel will add to our culture.”
Mennenga represents the first step in a potentially massive roster rebuild, with only sparingly-used Aussie big Dane Pineau signed and sealed on the books for next season.
Key “locals” in the form of heavily sought-after Aussie guard Will McDowell-White and experienced Tall Blacks forward Finn Delany both have mutual options on their deals with the club, and are in the process of working through those now.
Maor would consider both must-haves for next season, albeit their contractual breaks allow them to pursue other alternatives. Both are coming off injury-plagued seasons in which they missed a combined 17 games. McDowell-White averaged 9.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, while Delany averaged 8.8 points and 3.5 boards.
Mennenga’s arrival is a significant step for the club, given the difficulty in re-signing imports, the high chance of Next Star Mantas Rubštavičius jumping to the NBA, and locals Izayah Le’afa, Mangok Mathiang, Dan Fotu, and Cam Gliddon being off contract.
Of the off-contract group it’s likely the defence-minded Le’afa is the top priority, though Mathiang’s improved showing over the back part of the season might encourage Maor to bring him back.
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