Round 9 is a rare SuperCoach week in which the fixture list is almost as important as the form guide. Eight NBL clubs have two games, while Adelaide and Cairns play just once. That makes the obvious temptation to chase last week's biggest scores a little more complicated: the best player in a single game isn't necessarily the best buy for a double-game round. The NBL's Round 9 trading guide lays out the unusually crowded schedule ahead of Wednesday's opening fixture.
Sell: Parker Jackson-Cartwright. This isn't a judgement on his basketball. New Zealand's guard has been ruled out for the remainder of NBL27, so carrying him through another lockout means leaving a valuable roster slot idle. The same urgency applies to Skylar Mays, whose reported exit from South East Melbourne follows 11 appearances. The NBL's account of the reported split makes clear that the Phoenix are looking at a backcourt change, not simply a quiet week for their import. Check the final player pool and trade rules in your own competition before confirming replacements.
Buy consideration: a healthy double-game player with a dependable role. It's not glamorous advice, but Round 9's structure rewards opportunity. A player who reliably starts, plays substantial minutes and contributes across rebounds and assists has two chances to accumulate points. That can be more useful than chasing a single-game scoring outburst from a 36ers or Taipans player. Don't mistake two fixtures for a guarantee, though: verify availability and each club's opponents before locking in.
Hold: Bryce Cotton if your structure allows it. Adelaide play once, but Cotton remains the competition's leading cumulative SuperCoach scorer after eight rounds, with 501 points from 12 games. His 33-point fantasy return in Adelaide's 106–78 victory over Illawarra wasn't his most spectacular outing, yet his season-long production still makes a reflex sale difficult to justify. A single-game star is not automatically a trade-out, particularly if buying him back would cost another move. The official Round 8 recap also lists Cotton at a 41.8 average.
Watch: Jack McVeigh and Zylan Cheatham. McVeigh topped Round 8 with 95 SuperCoach points across two Cairns games, including 36 points and eight threes against Perth. Cheatham's 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists without a turnover produced 71 fantasy points in one Adelaide appearance. Those are genuine statements of form, but both clubs have only one Round 9 fixture. Managers buying either now should be doing so for a longer plan, not because last week's headline total looks irresistible.
Captaincy is a separate decision. Round 9 offers more double-game options than usual, and that should put reliable multi-category performers from the eight doubling clubs near the front of the discussion. The right choice depends on confirmed availability, matchup and your actual scoring rules; it shouldn't be a copy-and-paste of the Round 8 leaderboard. The key is to spend trades removing unavailable players first, then use the extra fixtures to improve the quality of the remaining lineup.
The cleanest Round 9 strategy is therefore less about finding one miracle pick and more about avoiding dead roster spots. Move the season-ending absence, deal with the reported departure, and resist turning a brilliant one-game performance into a rushed two-game-week purchase. There are enough fixtures to reward patience — but not enough trades to repair every impulsive decision.
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