KAI Sotto's potential was so high that it didn't take long for him to gain supporters inside the Adelaide 36ers organization.
And after agreeing to a multi-year deal on Wednesday, head coach Conner Henry is just upbeat on his new signing ahead of his arrival for the 2021-22 season of the National Basketball League (NBL).
"When Kai's name was first brought to me a couple of months back, the staff and I started to do some really solid investigation on who the young man was personally as well as what skill level he had," he said. "You see Kai being 7-foot-3 and you're immediately intrigued basketball wise. Can he play? Does he have a certain skill level at that size, at that age?"
"And when we saw the initial films of him, the coaches and I were immediately excited cause he's got a really solid feel for the game."
Sotto really impressed the Adelaide brass with his previous showings, first in Ateneo in the UAAP, his stint with The Skill Factory in Atlanta, and his performance for the Gilas Pilipinas Youth -- tapes of which intrigued Henry.
"He does the little things within the game already. Those are the types of the game that you can't teach. You can try, but when you see elite players already possess a really solid feel for the game, as coaches you get excited about it, and then you couple it on the young man being 7-foot-3," he said, while also taking exception of Sotto's brief run with the NBA G League Ignite team.
"He's been exposed to an NBA-style of game where the bigs, the post players have to be able to read the pick-and-roll game and react to the pick-and-roll game. With Kai's size, he's gonna be a great target to roll to the rim where he can finish, and then, as he develops his perimeter game which he already has a good feel for, one of the trends in the NBA now is you got a stretch five where you have the center being able to step out to the three-point line. He's got skillsets that will continue to develop. He's played some at the G League level, he'll understand the pace, the physicality of it, all of which translates to our club here in the NBL."
Even Sotto will admit that he remains a work in progress, but despite his deficiencies, Henry is willing to help him refine his game as the 18-year-old fights for his dream to become the first homegrown Filipino player drafted in the NBA.
"His ability to run up and down the floor, which he has to get stronger, he realizes that there are certain parts of his game that will develop over the time as he matures physicially. But he's got great hands, he's able to shoot the ball from range. He's developing an inside game, he ball fakes, he throws clever passes," he said. "You can clearly see that not only he is picking teams up as he plays, but he's probably one of these types of kids that when he watches the game, he sees things that he wants to try and naturally comes to him."
Henry, who played for the Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, and Sacramento Kings from 1986 to 1988 and also served as an assistant to the Orlando Magic in 2015 and 2016, said that as much of a process as Sotto is about to take with the 36ers, he has no question that "he's gonna get here."
"He's gonna be put immediately to the test," said Henry, who likened Sotto's situation to that of 18-year-old Aussie prospect Josh Giddey.
Giddey, who stands at 6-foot-7, is projected to be a first round selection in the 2021 NBA Draft based on the latest mock drafts.
"When Josh got here, he got to play against grown men. And I know [Sotto is] playing against grown men in his workouts down there in Miami and he's been developing," continued Henry.
"He will be continued to be pushed physically, mentally. There will be days that will be good, and there will be days that won't be so good just because one, he's fatigued, and two, he's getting beat up at times. But we really feel that we have an outstanding plan for him on the development side especially with Nick Richardson, our strength and conditioning coach who we feel is elite, that will help him get stronger and faster and more athletic."
Henry ended: "He's got a really, really high upside and we see that. And he's a great kid and we can't wait for him to get here."
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