The Otago Nuggets are nearly back.

It was confirmed this morning by the National Basketball League that the region’s new franchise has been granted provisional entry to the league.

Basketball Otago has until August 7 to meet the final requirements for entry in 2020.

Those include an agreed financial operational base and the appointment of a key management resource.

If the deadline is not met, entry will be deferred to next season.

League general manager Justin Nelson said he was “excited about the strong prospect of seeing the Otago Nuggets playing in the rising national competition in 2020 and representing such a strong and passionate basketball community.”

“The process the league has undertaken over the last few months has been extremely thorough and the final three bids we received were very professional and well presented,” he added.

“We are very excited to welcome the Otago Nuggets into the Sal’s NBL, they do have one or two final boxes to tick, but they are finalising these diligently with an expectation of successfully achieving everything in time for participation in 2020.”

Source: ODT