Perth Wildcats GM Danny Mills promises to target a point-guard during NBL free agency after semifinal defeat

Perth Wildcats General Manager Danny Mills has promised to target an experienced point-guard during the off-season in a bid to fill the biggest hole in the roster which prevented them from challenging for the NBL championship. Perth will watch from afar as Sydney and Adelaide fight it out for the title, having been swept by the Kings during the semifinals. The Wildcats focused heavily on recruiting big and powerful players in the build-up to the season, but lost five games by one point and the lack of a floor general hurt them. The Wildcats initially signed Mason Jones as an import before sacking him after only five games. His replacement David Duke junior missed a chunk of the season with an elbow injury and while Jaron Rillie was a revelation, he also suffered multiple injuries. Mills said that position would be his priority. “Clearly we have to address that,” he told The West Australian. “Jaron only played 16 games and it was his first year as a pro. What we saw from him was really exciting, there is a bright future there and having a local in that spot is a great building block. But clearly we need to add depth in that position and playmaking so guys like Windler, Doolittle and JLA’s offence can come even easier. “Then we can have a real playmaker at the end of games who can control the clock and the score. That’s definitely a focus for the off-season. “It was clearly the one deficiency in our roster that we needed to address and tried to address, but the market dictates a lot. “Then there was injury as well which we had to manage throughout the year. Last year we went into the off-season looking at how we could add rim protection and a big who could be a focal point offensively. We did that with JLA. This year it will be going into the other position.” Perth have Rillie, Jo Lual-Acuil, Kristian Doolittle, Dylan Windler, Ben Henshall, Sunday Dech, Lat Mayen, Cam Huefner and Next Star Noa Kouakou-Heugue already contracted. Elijah Pepper and David Okwera will attract plenty of attention as free agents while Jesse Wagstaff will take his time before deciding whether he continues playing. Wagstaff will turn 40 next month. Mills said everyone would watch the grand final series feeling they had a team which could have challenged for the championship. But he is confident that the club has enough big names already signed to again be among the top teams next season. “There’s a sense of disappointment that we didn’t go further. We all felt that we had the team to do it,” he said. “Throughout the season we showed we could compete with anyone. But there is a sense of pride that we have had this extended run of semifinals. “That’s a really good building block. But we all want to get to the championship series and give ourselves a chance to win the title. We know our fans want that and deserve that.”