Dunno if you saw the news but former Breakers and current Tall Blacks scoring extraordinaire Corey Webster might just have himself another shot at that NBA thing. He’s been invited to a free agent mini-camp with the Dallas Mavericks. He’ll shoot on over as soon as he’s done leading the Wellington Saints through the NZ NBL finals – they’re on track for a perfect season so, yeah. That’s in two weeks’ time.

A mini-camp invite hardly guarantees he’ll popping up contested threes over Steven Adams or anything. It’s pretty much the furthest away you can be without not being there. But that’s still closer than most. The mini-camps are a chance for teams to get an early look at some outsider prospects and if he impresses enough then a Summer League invite will be on the cards. A training camp and preseason invitation would, chronologically, be next.

Webster famously spent a preseason with the New Orleans Pelicans a couple years ago. Yeah wanna know all about how that went in its little intricacies? Maaaate. You’re in luck.

The Dallas Mavericks are in a place where it’s not inconceivable that they’re serious about this either. Some teams simply wouldn’t consider a 28 year old New Zealander for their roster. Webster probably has about a 1% chance of playing minutes for the Mavs next season but that’s a better chance than he’d be getting for, say, the LA Lakers or Golden State Warriors (for differing reasons…).

Since winning the NBA title in 2011, the Mavs have undergone some insane roster turnover, largely in pursuit of a big free agency haul… which never happened. They got close with DeAndre Jordan until… well you know that story. The last two seasons have seen a slightly adjusted approach. Mark Cuban has been more open about embracing The Dreaded Tank and the team has looked to rebuild for a future beyond Dirk Nowitzki.

Thing is, that’s hard to do when you’ve been a lower playoff seed most years – tends not to be a good way to stock draft picks, that. Nor is signing reliable veterans on short year deals. Vince Carter, Ray Felton, Samuel Dalembert, Jose Calderon, Darren Collison… all had nice resurgences with the Mavs but there ain’t much to show for it now. Same goes for undercover talents who finally started hitting some potential in Dallas such as Al-Farouq Aminu, Brandon Wright and Monta Ellis. That trio all now playing elsewhere. Worst of all was wasting rare assets on disastrous trades for Lamar Odom and Rajon Rondo. (The Rondo trade cost them the one proper guy they’ve drafted in the last half-decade in Jay Crowder).

So the Mavericks have had to get creative about filling out their roster. International free agents, D-League standouts, more of those undercover talents that haven’t done it for other teams yet. Luckily they have a brilliant coach in Rick Carlisle so they’re at least able to get the most out of the fellows that they do find.

The season just gone they missed the playoffs. In doing so they were able to give some serious court time to blokes such as Seth Curry (the brother of), Yogi Ferrell (a Brooklyn D-Leaguer), Dorian Finney-Smith (an undrafted rookie) and Salah Mejri (a 30 year old second year Tunisian centre) who all showed they’re worthy of genuine rotation spots (Curry even more so) while Argentine shooter Nic Brussino and rookie Jarrod Uthoff did some things too. Not to mention a few other 10-day contracts that were rolled through. They also managed to trade for Nerlens Noel, who is expected to re-sign as a restricted free agent, and gave a max contract to Harrison Barnes, who surprisingly seemed to live up to it with his methodical production.

They’re not finished either and as it happens they’ve a serious need for some guards. If those guys can hit open threes on the regular then even better. Webster’s a long, long way from ever playing with Saint Dirk himself but this is the right kind of atmosphere for him to succeed and if a few things break his way then he could do just that.

Webby to NBL.com: “I’m feeling great about it, it’s a great opportunity. Having been there before, I know a little bit more of what to expect and although it’s only a mini camp, I feel it’s a great opportunity for me.”

The fact that this opportunity has come about at all probably has something to do with this:

New representation, aye? Mogul is based in Adelaide and New York so they clearly have connections. Already that lot has been able to get Mitch Creek a spot on the Utah Jazz Summer League roster. Meanwhile his Adelaide teammate Nathan Sobey is gonna hit up four different mini-camps (be a little embarrassing not to get a callback from at least one, right?). Matt Hodgson is also gonna trial with an unnamed team – those Adelaide players getting some lucky exposure thanks to the presence of teenage-import Terrance Ferguson on that roster.

But it’s more than that, really. The NBL in Aussie is getting stronger and stronger while the NBA is getting smarter and more global with its recruitment. Having Aussies like Patty Mills, Matt Dellavedova and Joe Ingles doing big things has also helped. Yeah, sure, and Steven Adams repping the Silver Fern. James Ennis was the best player on the 2014 Perth Wildcats who won the title that year and he just played 64 games for the Memphis Grizzlies last season. Melbourne’s Majok Majok is gonna be with Corey in Dallas too (thanks to different management). Bit of a shame that Corey isn’t five years younger but at least he’s two years wiser than he was last time.

More Corey to NBL.com: “I think last time I went I was a little bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. Coming from New Zealand, it hadn’t happened too much in the past and I was just thinking for myself and for the country. I was a little bit overwhelmed and I was kind of just there. I think this time I’ll communicate more with the coaching staff and the trainers.

Find out what they’re looking for and if I were to have the opportunity to make it, what kind of role they think I’d be playing. Just communicate with them… that would be the biggest thing for me. Then, I guess, just playing to my ability. Like I said, I was a little bit overwhelmed last time and I don’t think I performed the greatest but with a little bit more experience behind me I think I can calm down and play my game.”

Funny thing is he’s not the only dude trying to crack the NBA from his family. Younger brother and Tall Blacks point guard Tai Webster has just wrapped up his final year in college and the 22 year old has been gathering some outside attention from a few NBA teams ahead of the 2017 Draft in a few weeks.

Tai spent his college days with Nebraska, where he walked straight into a starting point guard position though found himself benched in his second season after some poor play. But the dude is resilient, like his brother, and he won that spot back with some huge improvements.

His final season at Nebraska was brilliant. Scoring 17 points a game with 5 rebounds and 4 assists. His shooting numbers aren’t flash, at about 42% (and only 29% from deep) which is bound to turn some teams off, but he’s solid and dependable. For a player that struggled to finish a layup as a freshman he scored in double figures in 30 of his 31 games this last NCAA season. He plays good defence for a player his size (around 6’4) and covers both guard positions. Also an above average rebounder and a lad who can get to the free throw line.

Creighton coach Greg McDermott, after TW put 20 points on them in December: “I don’t know in my 28 years of coaching if I’ve ever seen a guy who has improved from his sophomore to his junior year by seven points, and then did it again from his junior year to his senior year. That’s unheard of.”

He’s a sleeper as far as genuine draft prospects go. Not one that many teams will seriously consider but late in that second round you never know. There’s been a slight precedent lately where some teams have preferred to target those more polished role players in the second round, rather than the higher risk/reward international dudes or the bloke with the court case coming up or the recurring injury problems.

Best example of that is Malcolm Brogdon at the Milwaukee Bucks. Hoops Hype explained that one well over here, Brogdon dropped all the way to 36th overall largely down to the unsexy nature of picking a 23 year old. Yet his refined game meant he went straight into the rotation and gave them more than anyone had reason to expect from a second rounder. If you’re gonna be successful in the draft then you’ve gotta target the inefficiencies – find the kinds of players that others are ignoring and find value beyond the worth of the pick. If a few more teams have taken notice of that strategy then Tai Webster will suddenly come into a little contention.

Counting against Tai is that Brogdon hit 40% from three as a rookie and is just, you know, objectively better. But Webster has international experience, which helps his case considering Nebraska, while a strong basketball programme, isn’t exactly Kentucky or Duke. Unlike most players in his situation he’s already played a competitive game against Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

Plus he’s got those intangibles which always count for plenty once you can get yourself on the radar. Coaches notice the guys who spend the extra time in the gym, putting up shots after everyone else has left. He’s already displayed his desire to improve himself at college and when you couple that with the humility and willingness to Do Whatever’s Necessary For The Team then you’ve got a player who, with a few more strings to his bow, can maybe possibly potentially be of some use to a few teams. With that, he’s not just gotta show what he can do now at his workouts, he’s also gotta show that the weaknesses in his game are things he has the ability to work on and develop. Hell, he outscored Lonzo Ball when they went head to head this year. Wouldn’t put it past him.

The Breakers have already said that Tai he doesn’t get picked up by an NBA team that they’ll be ready with a contract for him to sign. He’d be a handy fit for the Breaks, no doubt about that. But Tai could also surely get a decent European contract if it came to that too, so there’d be decisions to be made. Plus if he sticks around in America then he increases his chances of an undrafted invite to a few camps, or a shot at a D-League team, potentially even a 10-day contract towards the end of the season. He may be older than most prospects but he’s got things going for him that they don’t and the tide might be turning in his favour at the right time.

For now the task is getting his name out there and making sure that as many teams as possible get a look at him before the draft. Already he’s had confirmed workouts with the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. Plus he featured at the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in April, a yearly pre- Draft Combine get together for some of the top college seniors hoping to make the NBA. Tai’s team won the title there in Portsmouth and he averaged 7.7 points, shooting 56.3% along the way as the NBA scouts looked on.

Which has both Webster Bros poised nicely with long shots at the NBA. Not quite open shots, but those lads have some slick handles. Slide round the screen, chuck it up, watch it rustle the net. Tai is probably closer thanks to his youth although Corey’s got that veteran savvy about him now. Again, both are at big odds to make it but they’re in the mix and that’s exciting.

And if they don’t crack it? Well, the Tall Blacks are in action at the Asia Cup in August and we could definitely use them over there in Lebanon.

While the Websters are out there drilling open shots, it’d be pretty sweet if you could drill an ad or two on the page and let us keep doing this TNC stuff for ya.