THE Brisbane Bullets have added an injury replacement player for the remainder of the 2023/24 National Basketball League (NBL) season, acquiring the services of former NBL gun Casey Prather on Thursday.

Prather was added after the Bullets announced that forward DJ Mitchell would miss the remainder of the fixture through a hip injury. Shortly after, Prather was signed to a two-year deal, with the second year being a mutual option.

Luckily for Brisbane, the wing brings plenty of winning experience in the NBL, having won three championships in Australia’s premier basketball competition. Prather has played key roles on successful sides, and the Bullets will be hopeful that trend continues here.

Prather first joined the NBL as a member of the Perth Wildcats ahead of the 2015-16 season, where he announced himself as one of the premier players of the league. He won the club’s MVP award, and helped them to the championship with some big scoring performances.

He returned to the West the following season, and improved even further, being named to the All-NBL First Team and finishing second in the League MVP voting. In that campaign, he averaged 19.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

Following an attempt at a spot on an NBA roster, Prather returned to Australia, this time as a member of Melbourne United. It was another successful stint for the import, who averaged 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals in the 2017/18 season, and stepped up his game in the NBL finals as he helped lead Melbourne to the championship.

He returned to United a couple of years later, but missed the second half of the season back with a hamstring injury, before parting ways with the team at the end of the fixture.

During his time in the NBL, Prather became the first player to win three championships in their first three seasons, and Brisbane will be hoping that level of success is still present.

At his best, the shooting guard/small forward is an elite scorer, playing at a high pace and bringing energy to any team he suits up for. Capable of scoring both on and off the ball, Prather should slot into Brisbane’s lineup well.

Now at 32 years of age, health may be a concern, especially considering he missed his last two campaigns oveseas.

However, it seems an inspired move from the Bullets to add a proven winner to their roster with just eight rounds remaining of the NBL season.

Former United assistant coach and current Bullets head coach Justin Schueller expressed his excitement in adding Prather to the team.

“To be able to add Casey to our squad at this point of the season allows us to turn a negative in losing DJ into a huge positive for us,” Schueller said.
 
“Casey is a winner, a competitor and great culture fit, everything we want our program to be about.”
 
“I’ve seen first-hand what Casey can do in this league. I was lucky to win a championship next to him and look forward to him helping us in our push to the playoffs and more.”