Isaac Humphries is back in Adelaide, and looking to rediscover his peak form

A analysis of the Humphries free agency move, and what to expect of the Adelaide 36ers this coming season.

Credit: May Bailey Photography

The Adelaide 36ers were a polarising team entering last season, with one section of followers labelling them contenders (or even title favourites), whilst another group was less enamoured with how the pieces would mesh. What was clear however was that the club was all in, ranking first for total roster spend per Olgun Uluc.

Former South East Melbourne coach Simon Mitchell summarised some of the doubts on an end of season Cluch Radio podcast:

“I was sitting back [in the preseason] scratching my head thinking I’m not that big on this roster. Now, plenty of talent, but the fit and the make of the roster for me from the get-go looked messy. Your front court defensively in [Robert] Franks and DJ [Daniel Johnson]… there’s not a lot of dedication to your craft at that end from those two… And then obviously your backcourt in [Craig] Randall and what he brought… The balance overall. Where’s your shooting in the backcourt? All your shooting is in the front court… they just went and put the talent together and tried to force it…”

Lessons have been learnt by CJ Bruton and Adelaide’s front office, particularly on the back of the talent over character bet that was made the difficult Randall. A major move this offseason will be finding a better personality fit with the import guard signing.

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Another pivotal personnel move is Isaac Humphries’ return. Bruton had two major holes to fill from last season’s roster, with another ball-handler as well as a starting calibre rim protector required. Humphries is happy to be able to fill the latter:

“It was very difficult to leave Adelaide and I feel very grateful and happy I can come back… My situation last time I was here wasn’t ideal with injuries and that, but I’m healthy now. I pretty much played a full season with Melbourne last year, so give me a chance to come in and do my thing… We made it very clear last year when I went to Melbourne that we weren’t going to burn the bridge and shut the door [on a return].”