Illawarra president of basketball operations Mat Campbell is confident the foundation club will have a roster capable of competing for a championship despite the confirmed departure of star big man Duop Reath.
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Reath joins Antonius Cleveland in the exit lounge, with the reigning Defensive Player of the Year linking with Adelaide on big dollars for the upcoming season.
He's the second DPOY to be one-and-done with the Hawks in as many seasons, with Justin Simon departing for Europe following the 2020-21 finals campaign.
He's since linked with arch-rivals Sydney for the upcoming season, something sure to add spice to the season-opener in Wollongong on October 1.
Both Reath and Cleveland were offered extensions on upgraded deals prior to last season's playoffs, but were determined to explore free agency.
Reath signalled his intentions to press his NBA claims at the Summer League - a campaign ultimately scuppered be injury.
He's now tipped to sign a monster deal in China, snapping the Hawks out of what was admittedly a recruitment "holding pattern" while Reath's retention remained the priority.
Illawarra has added 6 ft 10 former Charlotte Hornet Mangok Mathiang to add presence in the front court and is now on the lookout for more versatile combo forward.
"Traditionally it's harder to get right, it's a tougher spot [to fill] which is why Duop would've been good for us," Campbell said.
"There are some rookies that have shown some promise in that spot, as in guys right out of college, but we're keeping options open.
"We're pretty close to understanding who the [import] guard will be and that'll shape what the four man can be.
"The good thing is, now we've got Mango and Sam, and the versatility with Deng Deng in there as well, there's multiple line-ups we can throw out there.
"We can go big, we can go small and we can go versatile, so we're pretty excited about what that group could look like.
"The last two imports are really key and obviously the last Australian piece we have there. There's a couple of key pieces to drop but it's all pretty exciting.
"Our preseason starts on Monday with the Australian content and we're hoping for the imports to be in by about the 15th of August."
In stark contrast to previous seasons, rookie coach Jacob Jackomas will have a large returning contingent headlined by franchise import Tyler Harvey and recent Boomers Asia Cup winners Sam Froling and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk.
Kings championship-winner Swaka Lo Buluk joins the club on a two-year deal, while Froling inked a three-year contract extension midway through last season.
Dan Grida also re-signed for two seasons midway through the last campaign as he looks to come back from a second ACL tear in as many seasons.
Recent Chicago Bulls Summer League signing Akoldah Gak moves from a DP contract to a full roster spot while guard Alex Mudronja remains on the club's books.
It's a group that promises to be more well-rounded defensively after giving up the most points in the league last season despite Cleveland picking up the DPOY gong.
"The exciting thing for us is the signing of Wani Swaka Le Buluk early in the piece really cemented our ability to have a good starting five no matter what," Campbell said.
"He started for the Kings last year and he's proven he can play long minutes, not get himself in foul trouble, and be a good contributor.
"That was important to us. He's young and developing which is good, with Sam [Froling] there in that category as well.
"Dan Grida's looking amazing at practice at the moment. We've invested a lot of time into him and we're excited to see [what level] he's going to come back at.
"There'll be some nerves there, obviously, coming off some injuries and we're going to be young. We'll probably have the youngest team in the league from our core Australian content point of view.
"The good thing about that is it will allow us to train and play at a higher intensity. On the back of Brian Goorjian's style, Jacob Jackomas is going to play a lot like that.
"I think being able to circle through the roster from a subbing point of view will be a real positive for our group."
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