WITH former NBA wing Troy Brown Jr deciding to leave the Adelaide 36ers to return home, the team almost immediately began their hunt for their next import. With the eligibility cut off being January 18, there is less than a week before the deadline, but that proved no issue to the 36ers front office as they were able to find their guy just hours after Brown Jr.’s departure.

Brown Jr. was signed in mid-November to an extremely improved Adelaide team, which already looked to be title contenders alongside Melbourne United who obviously have dropped to sitting at fourth place as of today.

He was expected to come in and almost instantly plug into the 36ers’ offence as a three-and-D wing who is very useful, which has even been shown at the top level, which allowed him to play multiple years in the NBA.

He has had an interesting international career ever since leaving the US to play abroad in 2024, his first team being in Turkey which he left after three games, and then playing in Puerto Rico where he struggled and also left after 3 games. His 13 games in the NBL were very difficult for Brown Jr, as he struggled to fit into the offence and never got into a flow finishing his NBL stint averaging 4.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

These statistics, coming from an NBA-level import is extremely underwhelming, alongside his 29 per cent field goal percentage and 24 per cent from three.

As his replacement, Adelaide has signed 34-year-old NBA veteran John Jenkins, who will leave his stint in Romania, where so far this season he has been averaging 24 points per game. The talented sharpshooter made a career of using off-ball screens to find scoring opportunities, which helped him earn a role in the NBA for six seasons, playing for various teams such as the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards and New York Knicks.

Jenkins is well known to Adelaide head coach Mike Wells, as he has a long history of playing for the USA during FIBA qualifiers dating back to 2011, where Wells has served as a scout and assistant coach.

Jenkins was also a mentor for the former G-League Ignite program, which folded in 2024 due to seeing a limited amount of success. Mentoring players such as Scoot Henderson, Ron Holland, Mojave King, Matas Buzelis and more, Jenkins is the franchise leader in total career points, averaging 18 points in consecutive seasons, one season shooting at a jaw-dropping 49 per cent from beyond the arc.

Jenkins’ professionalism alongside his shooting ability and all-around understanding of the game make him a player who can adjust to almost any environment, and if utilised correctly, could be the perfect signing and boost that Adelaide needs.