KING ALEX TOOHEY IS LOOKING EVERY BIT A NEXT STAR!

The Sydney Kings are starting to look more and more like another certain basketball franchise that don the purple and gold.

With a team littered with talent, which one may say their bench could very well be a playoff worthy starting lineup, it looks like Showtime has hit the stage in the Harbour city.

However, with names like Cooks, Adams and Oliver bolded and underlined on every team’s scouting report, there is one player that may very well own the key to the cabinet that holds the Kings third championship in four years.

His name is of course, Alex Toohey.

Photo by - SZN3 Media

The NBL Next Star and NBA Global Academy graduate showed glimpses throughout his first full NBL season with the Kings.

However, it was a rollercoaster kind of year for the young forward from Canberra, both in his personal performance and the team’s.

Defensive lapses, inconsistent shooting and moments where you could clearly see his tall lanky frame get out muscled by stronger men were interweaved with flashes which just made you sit there with your jaw on the floor thinking, ‘this kid is going to be something’.

Just check out this 14pt 1st half outburst against the eventual NBL champs the Tasmania JackJumpers (btw this was against the league’s best defence).

Pretty good right?

Photo by - SZN3 Media

Standing at 6ft7 with long lanky arms, athleticism and a frame that has plenty of room to grow, Toohey projects as a terrific 3-And-D wing prospect in the NBA.

There was cause for concern at the end of last year when he finished the season shooting 24% from 3 and 43.6% from the floor while averaging 7.9ppg.

But remember, at just 19-years-old there’s plenty time for his game, and him, to grow. This is what’s fantastic about the Next Stars program, we get to watch NBA level talent develop before our eyes in a professional setting.

Just let the kid mature into those arms!

Any doubters can be easily dissuaded when you highlight the mechanics of the actual jump shot. He sets an excellent base, always shoulder width apart, and holds his follow through (go ahead… rewatch the Tassie highlights!).

Just give him time to get more comfortable with hard the closeouts and pressure of the big lights in professional basketball.

He clearly has been working on his jumper throughout the offseason as he shocked the fans at the Blitz with insane shooting numbers of 75% from 3 enroute to average 25ppg over his two outings.

He then followed it up with 60% shooting from behind the arc in the season opener against Adelaide, for 15pts, and banged home the final nail in the coffin in the last 20 seconds with a gorgeous turnaround middy.

Look, I know it was over the 5ft9 Kendrick Davis, but that’s a shot he WOULD NOT have taken or made last year.

Yes, there was some ‘bull in a china shop’ moments.

In the opening quarter Toohey was too agressive with the ball in hand and resulted in him trying muscle his way through multiple Adelaide defenders on several different occasions.

Andrew Bernucca of ON SI said it best, 'Toohey was playing like he needed to score 25 points per game (his average at this season’s Blitz) instead of a guy who can drop 25 when you give him the opportunity to'.

While on the defensive end there were times he hit his closeouts hard and got caught out cheating on his own defender while searching for highlight blocks which led to two And-1’s.

These were moments which let Adelaide back into the game, but most importantly, are easily teachable lessons that Toohey has shown he is smart enough to chuck in the memory bank and learn from.

Now backing up from HoopsFest in Perth, he returns there this Friday to take on what’s seen as a way-too-early Finals preview against the Perth Wildcats. He then will be backing it up against the monsters from Illawarra on Sunday.

The turnaround and travel he will experience over this period is what would be only a mere blip in an NBA season he is hoping to be a part of in 2025/26.

A strong showing this weekend will only improve his draft stock where he currently sits in the 1st round.

There is no better time than the present to show those NBA scouts that you are that tantalizing 1st round 3-And-D prospect that is so hard to find across the league.

You may just win yourself an NBL Championship in the process.