Standing at 216cm - or 7ft 1in - Zhou stretched his very long legs in his first team training session at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne.

He won't be the tallest NBL player after Brisbane Bullets signed his Chinese national teammate Chuanxing Liu for the 2022 season.

Chuanxing takes the honour by 12cm.

The 25-year-old Zhou played 22 games off the bench for the Houston Rockets between 2017 and 2019 and has been a regular member of the Chinese national team since making his debut in 2014.

While he still has aspirations of returning to the NBA, says he's looking forward to making his mark in Australia.

"Australian basketball is very competitive so I'm really looking forward to it and also to living in Melbourne," Zhou said through an interpreter.

"I"m looking for some new challenges."

Zhou, who is expected to start at centre for the Phoenix, met his new teammates and coaches before undertaking physical testing and doing some light shooting.

"I am happy to be out of quarantine and am looking forward to being with the boys on court for the start of the season," he said.

Phoenix fans are likely to their first glimpse of Zhou when the pre-season NBL Blitz tips off on November 13 with the side opening their season on December 4 at John Cain Arena against the Illawarra Hawks.

Australian Associated Press