Kai Sotto. Adelaide 36ers Photo
MANILA, Philippines — The Adelaide 36ers got Kai Sotto’s back in his NBA dream after declaring for the 2022 Rookie Draft on Thursday.
After the 19-year-old Filipino threw his name into the upcoming NBA Draft on June 23 in Brooklyn, the 36ers showed some love to Sotto and expressed their full support in social media.
“We’re backing you all the way, Kai,” wrote Adelaide in a statement.
The 7-foot-3 center played his first professional basketball with the 36ers, who finished seventh with a 10-18 record in Australia’s National Basketball League.
Sotto played 23 games in his first NBL season, averaging 7.6 points on 51-percent field goals including a 39-percent shooting from deep and had 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 15.2 minutes.
Adelaide is hopeful that Sotto would be its second player to be drafted in the NBA after Josh Giddey was picked at No.6 by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Ateneo high school standout is joining four other NBL players namely Luke Travers of Perth Wildcats, Hugo Besson and Ousmane Dieng of New Zealand Breakers, and Tom Digbeu of Brisbane Bullets.