18 September late update: Nathan Sobey is OUT of South East Melbourne’s Saturday game in Perth with back tightness and will be reassessed before Monday’s game in Tasmania. That strengthens Skylar Mays’ Round 1 role and removes Sobey from our captaincy plans.
Updated: 17 September 2026
Round 1 is close enough now that this needs to stop being a preseason team reveal.
This is the team we would actually take towards lockout.
The biggest change from our earlier build is structural: Parker Jackson-Cartwright is now in, Bryce Cotton is out for Round 1, and we are deliberately keeping enough cash to make the move to Cotton when Adelaide's three-round double-game run begins in Round 2.
That is not a downgrade on Cotton. It is using the fixture.
New Zealand and South East Melbourne are the only teams playing twice in Round 1. Adelaide then doubles in Rounds 2, 3 and 4. The cleanest opening strategy is therefore to attack the first double without making Cotton difficult to reach one round later.
Use this alongside our Round 1 injury report, cheapies guide, captain rankings, fixture guide and opening-week opportunity guide.
Our NBL27 SuperCoach Round 1 team
| Position | Player | Team | Price | Round 1 games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | Parker Jackson-Cartwright | New Zealand | $405,200 | 2 |
| Guard | Skylar Mays | South East Melbourne | $277,000 | 2 |
| Guard | Arnas Velička | Brisbane | $277,000 | 1 |
| Guard | Dash Daniels | South East Melbourne | $115,000 | 2 |
| Forward | Sam Mennenga | New Zealand | $303,100 | 2 |
| Forward | Nick Rakocevic | Adelaide | $188,400 | 1 |
| Forward | Reuben Te Rangi | New Zealand | $97,100 | 2 |
| Forward | Sunday Dech | Cairns | $69,000 | 1 |
| Centre | Hunter Goodrick | South East Melbourne | $69,000 | 2 |
| Centre | Ben Gold | Tasmania | $69,000 | 1 |
| TOTAL | $1,869,800 | |||
| BANK | $130,200 |
Six of the 10 players have a Round 1 double. More importantly, the $130,200 bank gives this team options rather than trapping it inside a Round 1-only build.
The obvious plan is PJC to Bryce Cotton in Round 2 if nothing in the opening games changes our view. Cotton costs $68,700 more at their starting prices, so there is already enough cash to make that move without dismantling the side.
That flexibility is a feature, not wasted salary.
The big change: PJC in, Cotton temporarily out
Earlier in preseason we preferred starting Cotton and avoiding the scramble to find nearly half a million dollars later.
The closer we get to Round 1, the less we like giving away a game to PJC.
Jackson-Cartwright costs $405,200 and New Zealand opens with two matches. He is also the clearest captaincy option on the slate. Cotton remains our No. 1 season-long premium, but Adelaide plays once before beginning doubles in Rounds 2, 3 and 4.
So the question is not PJC or Cotton for the season.
It is PJC for two games now, then Cotton when his fixture turns.
That is a much easier call.
Buckets call: start PJC, captain him, and keep the Cotton money accessible.
Skylar Mays gives us a second premium double
Mays is sitting in a very useful price band at $277,000.
He produced 28 and 29 projected SuperCoach points across his two Blitz appearances and now gets two games immediately. He is not as safe as PJC, but he does not need to be. At this price, two solid lead-guard performances can create both points and early price movement.
Current public ownership has him around 21 per cent, well below PJC and Mennenga. That gives the pick some leverage without becoming contrarian for the sake of it.
Buckets call: one of the best ways to attack the Phoenix double without paying Nathan Sobey money.
Arnas Velička stays despite the single game
Not every selection needs a Round 1 double.
Velička was one of the strongest fantasy performers of the Blitz and Brisbane has handed him the sort of primary creation role that tends to survive ordinary shooting nights. Assists, ball-handling volume and minutes are the attraction.
Brisbane only plays once in Round 1, but we are comfortable carrying him through it rather than burning an early trade to get him later.
Buckets call: role beats fixture here.
Dash Daniels is still exactly the cheapie we want
Daniels is $115,000, plays twice and can contribute without needing plays called for him.
That matters. Young players whose fantasy scoring depends entirely on making shots can disappear quickly. Daniels can accumulate through rebounds, assists and defensive events as well.
He is now one of the most popular players in the game, with public ownership above 35 per cent. That is not a reason to avoid him. At this price and with two Round 1 matches, fading him requires a fairly strong alternative.
Buckets call: keep it simple.
Sam Mennenga is the forward anchor
Mennenga is now owned by more than half of SuperCoach sides publicly tracked ahead of Round 1, and the logic is obvious.
He finished preseason strongly, has FWD/CTR flexibility and gets two games immediately. The Josiah-Jordan James hamstring injury also removes another established forward from New Zealand's early rotation.
We still prefer PJC for captain because primary ball-handlers generally give us the cleaner fantasy floor, but Mennenga is a perfectly reasonable alternative.
Buckets call: the closest thing to a Round 1 must-own.
Reuben Te Rangi has become more useful this week
This is one of the selections that has changed with the news cycle.
Josiah-Jordan James is out with a hamstring injury and New Zealand has added Mojave King as an injury replacement. King complicates the medium-term wing picture, but he does not erase the immediate Round 1 opportunity.
Te Rangi costs $97,100 and plays twice. We do not need him to become a 30-point fantasy player. We need legitimate rotation minutes across two games at a price that keeps the rest of the build intact.
Buckets call: useful Round 1 structure with some role uncertainty attached.
Nick Rakocevic is our bridge into Adelaide's fixture
Rakocevic only plays once this round, but starting him saves a trade when Adelaide's schedule explodes.
The 36ers double in Rounds 2, 3 and 4. At $188,400, Rakocevic does not need superstar usage to outperform his price if the rebounding role holds.
This is also why we are comfortable starting without Cotton. We are not ignoring Adelaide; we are already carrying one piece of its early schedule and holding the cash for the premium move.
Buckets call: boring in the best possible way.
Sunday Dech is a floor-price role bet
Dech is not in this team because we expect him to win Round 1 for us.
He is here because $69,000 players need a plausible path to minutes, and Cairns' injury picture remains worth watching. Jaylin Galloway, Kyrin Galloway and Luke Paul are all on the official injury list, while Dech's own preseason hamstring management remains something to confirm before lockout.
If Dech is not cleared cleanly, this is a movable slot.
Buckets call: provisional until final availability is confirmed.
Hunter Goodrick: popular for a reason
Goodrick is the most obvious $69,000 structural play in the game.
He has FWD/CTR flexibility, South East Melbourne plays twice, and his public ownership has climbed above 40 per cent. The scoring ceiling may be modest, but two bites at the cherry from a basement-price dual-position player is useful.
Buckets call: we are not overthinking this one.
Ben Gold over a dead centre spot
Centre is where cheap builds can become ugly quickly.
Gold showed during the Blitz that he can produce when minutes arrive, including a double-double against Brisbane. Tasmania only plays once in Round 1, so this is not a fixture chase. It is a bet that a $69,000 centre with an actual path to rotation minutes is more useful than selecting a name purely because the spreadsheet balances.
Buckets call: cheap with a reason.
Why we are leaving $130,200 in the bank
Because Round 2 matters.
A Round 1 team that spends every dollar can look optimised until the fixture changes and suddenly requires two trades just to reach the player you always planned to buy.
Our bank covers the current $68,700 gap from PJC to Cotton. It also gives us room to react if a Round 1 cheapie fails, an injury creates a better role, or one of the opening games reveals a player we badly mispriced.
The season will give us enough problems. We do not need to manufacture one by starting with $400 left.
The players we are leaving out
Bryce Cotton - $473,900
Still the best season-long premium on our board. We simply prefer PJC's two games in Round 1 and have built the bank specifically to make Cotton accessible for Adelaide's Round 2 double.
Nathan Sobey
Two games make him dangerous, but the price makes the rest of the team harder to balance. Mays gives us Phoenix lead-guard exposure for substantially less.
Luke Travers - $292,900
The Blitz MVP is absolutely selectable and Cole Anthony has declared himself fit for the opener. Travers' all-round role remains excellent. The issue is simply that Melbourne plays once while our key Round 1 targets play twice.
Bryce Hamilton - $293,100
Still listed with a knee injury and return TBC on the official NBL injury list. There is no reason to take that uncertainty into Round 1 at this price.
Anthony Dell'Orso - $100,000
One of the most interesting cheap guards in the game and now above 30 per cent ownership. Brandon Knight is unlikely to play Perth's opener and Dylan Windler is currently out, so the immediate opportunity is real. Daniels wins our final cheap guard slot because he gets two games, but Dell'Orso is extremely close.
What could still change before lockout?
Three things.
Final injury news. The official NBL list was last updated on 16 September. Sunday Dech is the player in this build we most want a clean availability read on, while any surprise absence can create a new cheapie overnight.
New Zealand's wing rotation. James is out and Mojave King has arrived as his injury replacement. If there is strong information on King's immediate role before Sunday, it changes the Te Rangi conversation.
Perth's available bodies. Knight is unlikely for the opener and Windler is out with a foot injury. Dell'Orso and Elijah Pepper therefore have a short-term opportunity that could become difficult to ignore after Saturday night's first look.
For every late change, check our live Round 1 injury report.
NBL27 SuperCoach Round 1 team FAQ
Who should I captain in Round 1?
Parker Jackson-Cartwright is our captain. New Zealand plays twice and PJC combines elite usage with the safest creation role among the double-game premiums. See our full Round 1 captain rankings.
Should I start Bryce Cotton or PJC?
We now prefer PJC for Round 1 because he plays twice. Our build keeps enough cash to trade PJC to Cotton before Adelaide begins three consecutive double-game rounds in Round 2.
How many Round 1 double-game players should I own?
There is no magic number, but our current team carries six. We would not sacrifice strong season-long value purely to hit an arbitrary total.
Is Sam Mennenga a must-have?
For our build, yes. His role, dual-position status, preseason form and Round 1 double make him very difficult to leave out.
Should I spend the full $2 million salary cap?
Not automatically. We are deliberately leaving $130,200 because it preserves the planned move from PJC to Cotton and gives us flexibility when Round 1 creates new information.
Final Buckets call
The earlier version of this team tried to solve the first month on day one.
This version is better because it accepts that Round 1 and Round 2 are different problems.
Attack New Zealand and South East Melbourne now. Captain PJC. Keep Mennenga. Take the useful cheap doubles. Carry enough Adelaide exposure to avoid a complete rebuild. And leave the money required to reach Cotton when his schedule turns.
That is the team we would take towards Saturday night.
Read next
- NBL27 SuperCoach Round 1 Injury Report
- NBL27 SuperCoach Round 1 Captains
- NBL27 SuperCoach Cheapies
- NBL27 SuperCoach Fixture Guide
- NBL27 Opening Week Fantasy Opportunity Guide
- NBL27 SuperCoach PODs
Sources and methodology
This build uses current NBL27 SuperCoach prices, public ownership information reported on 16-17 September, the official NBL fixture and the official NBL injury list last updated 16 September at 7:30am AEST. Preseason production is used as role evidence rather than treated as a guarantee of regular-season scoring.
Buckets is an independent fantasy basketball platform and is not affiliated with SuperCoach or the National Basketball League. SuperCoach is referenced for analysis and scoring comparison.
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