Basketball On The Internet.

BIG story of the day today was Gary Ervin signing with the 36ers for the coming NBL season, leaving the perennial battlers with just an import swingman to find.

Adelaide, last in 2010, second-last in 2011, last in 2012 and last in 2013, is on the long road back to reclaim its former greatness when once it stood alongside traditional rival Perth Wildcats as the blueprints for success.

Perth's blueprint continues to evolve while Adelaide lost its copy, and its way, long before Scott Ninnis and Marty Clarke cemented it on the road to ruin.

Now it falls to Joey Wright - yes, I'll say it again, the only coach in the NBL with a championship as coach on his resume - to complete the rebuild, the refit and the re-imagination of what this club could again be.

Retaining Adam Gibson was hugely important. Signing BJ Anthony and Brendan Teys significant but of less immediate relevance.

Ervin was the big one, the 183cm star averaging 18.4 points per game at 43 per cent, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds during his time at Wollongong and Townsville.

He also becomes the first import Adelaide has signed who has won a league MVP award, since Robert Rose in 1994 - and that worked out very well for the 36ers.

But don't go getting too excited about what this might mean for Adelaide Lightning.

My (e)mail is the WNBL club is well down the track for its import "big" to replace Suzy Batkovic and only now may explore whether signing Ervin's fiancee is an option.

Kia Vaughan, 25 and 193cm fits the bill for the type of player Adelaide is seeking.

In the WNBA with New York Liberty, she averaged 6.4 points and five rebounds per game in  2012.

But that boat may already have sailed as far as Lightning goes.

Ervin is expected to join the team when they travel to China in August for a preseason tournament.

ANDREW Bogut will have a solid back-up centre at Golden State Warriors next season in the NBA with former All-Star pivot Jermaine O'Neal joining the club.

O'Neal, 34, averaged 8.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 55 games for the Phoenix Suns last season.

The Warriors have been aggressive in the off-season, securing free-agent point guard Toney Douglas and signing Denver Nuggets swingman Andre Iguodala to a four-year $US48 million ($A52.86 million) deal.

Douglas, 27, averaged 7.5 points and 2.1 assists last season for the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings.

THE Under-16 Nationals are on in earnest in Adelaide and today I had the pleasure of catching up with a genuine NBL superstar legend in Sam Mackinnon.

Here's what he had to say about coaching and the game's future at adelaidenow: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/slamming-sam-mackinnon-takes-first-coaching-steps/story-fnii09gt-1226677299448