Raul Neto is open to playing in the NBL beyond his short-term Brisbane Bullets deal. There is a catch, and it is more important than any rival club’s sales pitch: the Brazilian guard wants his family comfortable with the decision. After Sunday’s win in Adelaide, he told the NBL he had made no firm career plans, but could see himself playing more basketball in Australia if the circumstances worked for his family.
The invitation for other clubs to dream is obvious. Four games into his NBL stint, Neto is averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 assists, shooting 58.6 per cent from the field. The league reports Brisbane are plus-5.5 points per game with Neto on the floor. Those numbers describe a tidy early contribution, not an entire season’s worth of certainty. For a team that lost its lead playmaker to injury, though, Neto has brought immediate organisation without needing to dominate the ball.
Brisbane’s 96–89 road win over Adelaide on 1 November was a useful demonstration. Neto supplied 14 points, four assists and four rebounds, while Tyrell Harrison produced 24 points and 10 boards and Nate Hinton filled the gaps with 18 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. The official game report tells a story of shared work rather than one imported star carrying everybody. Neto’s contribution was to keep the attack moving while Brisbane’s other weapons did the damage.
The roster complication has not disappeared. Neto arrived as the nominated injury replacement for Arnas Velička. The NBL injury register, updated in late October, lists Velička’s lower-limb return estimate at Rounds 11–12. That is a forecast, not a clearance date. Until the Lithuanian guard is available, Neto has a defined job in Brisbane; beyond that point, his status and the club’s options need a fresh decision. As of 2 November, no extension or move has been announced.
Interest elsewhere was already building before Neto spoke. On 29 October, the NBL relayed ESPN reporter Olgun Uluc’s account that people from two clubs had asked about the guard’s future. That was curiosity, not a completed approach or an agreed deal. Neto’s own comments now add a missing piece: he is not ruling out a longer Australian chapter, but neither is he offering a blank cheque to whoever calls first.
There is another date on the calendar. Neto is expected to link up with Brazil during November’s FIBA international window, and his Brisbane spell began partly as a way to prepare for national-team basketball. His immediate focus remains the Bullets, who have climbed to 5–5 after beating the 36ers despite their own injury problems. The sensible basketball question is whether his playmaking can keep lifting the players around him as opponents get a better look at Brisbane’s reshaped backcourt.
Perth visit Brisbane on Wednesday 4 November for an Ignite Cup fixture. It is the next chance to assess Neto’s minutes, ball-handling responsibility and connection with Harrison and Hinton. The longer-term contract conversation can wait. For now, Brisbane have a replacement point guard playing well enough to make that conversation unavoidable.
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