Cast your eyes down the long list of names and you'll find anything but the usual gang of suspects.
Kiwi hoops legends, fringe Tall Blacks, NZ Breakers wannabes, fresh-faced school kids, grizzled has-beens, midweek warriors, middle-aged media hacks and ice cream vendors.
More than 400 of them, all queuing up for a shot at the basketball big time… or at least the biggest time available right now.
In recent years, the NZ National Basketball League - once the game's flashy showpiece on these shores - has had to compete with its Aussie counterpart and the giant-killing national team in the game's pecking order.
Popular in the provinces, somewhat under-represented in the Auckland region, it has been dominated by big-budget teams with stacked rosters, while smaller associations use the competition primarily to help junior talent along their career pathways.
Over the past decade, Wellington Saints have scooped six titles and Southland Sharks three. Auckland Pirates were the last northern winners in their one-and-done 2012 campaign.
But none of that really matters this year.
As COVID-19 decimated sport around the world, the NBL faced the same fate as most other competitions - venues closed, athletes locked down, foreign stars locked out and sponsors financially strapped.
League cancelled (or at least suspended indefinitely).
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures.
Desperate to keep his baby alive, NBL general manager Justin Nelson has scrapped the traditional home-and-away format, concocted a centrally based 'bubble' at Auckland's Waitakere Trusts Stadium and redistributed the NZ-only talent pool across teams with a wacky NBA-style draft, scheduled for Thursday evening.
The concept has not been universally acclaimed - far from it. Saints, Sharks and 2019 runners-up Hawke's Bay Hawks have all withdrawn, raising questions over the eventual winners' title credentials.
In response, Basketball NZ has subtlely rebranded the competition as 'Sal's NBL Showdown' to "reflect its own slice of history".
Breakers-contracted players will bypass the revamped league over welfare concerns, with star sharpshooter Corey Webster - a two-time NBL Most Valuable Player - declaring it an affront to his profession on social media.
Meanwhile, 400 hoop-crazy contenders, pretenders and, yes, offenders will scramble for 84 available roster spots.
Welcome to the 2020 NBL Draft.
THE VISION
After quarter of a century and more than 400 games in the NBL, Dillon Boucher ranks among its greatest players - certainly one of its winningest.
With Tall Blacks legend Pero Cameron, he holds the record for championship titles (nine), although his longtime teammate has added two more as a coach.
After leaving his role as Breakers general manager last year, Boucher returned to his roots as a member of the NBL board and his fingerprints are all over the newlook league.
"I've taken more of a role in everything, because I wanted it to get off the ground to keep basketball relevant," he tells Newshub.
"We were finally live on SKY TV and if we don't have a league, does that continue or do they move on to other sports?
"Justin has done a lot of commercial deals that needed to be fulfilled, but I wanted something for players to play in. Personally, this competition has me so pumped, I'm desperate to get back on court and I'm not even playing."
Boucher, 44, has helped two expansion teams - the Bulls and Auckland Huskies - prepare for their debut campaigns, luring former Breakers coach Kevin Braswell back from the United States to guide the latter.
He acknowledges the financial challenges facing the league during and after coronavirus shutdown.
"The last thing we wanted was no basketball," he says. "We sat around the table, tossing around ideas on an interim competition with enough games to make it worthwhile to play in a place where we could control the budgets.
"A lot of sponsors are struggling and the first thing they do is cut their sponsorships, so teams were struggling budget-wise through this time. Associations were really struggling, because they weren't receiving any income through their weekly leagues.
"The NBL came up with a concept that was pretty rare - it would pay the players, charge a small entry free to take part with the object of fulfilling commercial obligations, including TV."
Modelled on the annual selection of young talent into the NBA, the draft loomed as a way to control budgets by spreading the best players across all teams.
Each team have a chance to 'pre-select' two marquee players, based on their existing ties to those organisations. Some were already contracted for this season, while others have either played for those NBL teams previously or were developed through local junior ranks.
"The draft format is a different way of spreading talent across the teams, while ensuring the top players were still getting the top salaries," says Boucher.
"It should also make for a healthy competition, not 1-2 teams dominating the league because they have money and sponsors.
"The draft has already drummed up some interest and created exposure that is good for basketball."
THE COACH
Brent Matehaere never expected to be part of the 2020 NBL - now he's officially on the clock.
Based on pre-selections, Otago Nuggets have been assessed as the roster most in need of help, so they will have first pick in Thursday's draft.
After a six-year absence, the southerners Nuggets hadn't intended rejoining the competition until next season, but were offered an early (discounted) entry as part of the new format.
"We talked about it with the board and decided it was a great opportunity," Matehaere says. "We would be absolutely stupid to turn down an opportunity to get involved with the NBL, which potentially doesn't have the cost a full season would have.
"It was a chance to test the waters, an opportunity too good to miss."
Matehaere, who represented Waikato, Hawkes Bay and Otago at this level, enjoyed previous success with the Otago women's programme and managed Otago Boys High School to a national secondary schools title in 2014.
He was already developing his roster of homegrown players, when Nelson's call came.
"We started in November last year and the plan was to build NBL-ready players - skills, strength and conditioning - from this area," he says.
"The key was to develop local players ready to step on the floor and contribute, then bring in 1-2 marquee players. That's where we wanted to be."
The Nuggets had lined up pre-season fixtures against Saints and Nelson Giants, before COVID-19 struck. Matehaere also hoped to promote his players through the proposed NBL 3x3 competition.
"We're talking about players who have won national age-group and secondary schools championships over the years," he says.
"Players in other areas have had NBL opportunities that our local guys haven't. That's really big for me - if you can see it, you can believe it and once you start believing it, you can do it.
"If you don't have a local franchise in the community, kids can't see the characteristics they need to succeed."
While those youngsters will likely fill out the bulk of his 12-man roster, Matehaere has missed out on top homegrown products like centre Sam Timmins and guard Joe Cook-Green - stars of that OBHS title run - who have already signed with other franchises. Timmins will likely take the court for the Bulls, Cook-Green with Canterbury Rams.
"I spoke with them about whether they would be interested in playing with us," says Matehaere. "Both said they had made commitments to those teams and I'm respecting that commitment, first and foremost.
"That's the honourable thing to do and we'll just have to take our chances in the draft."
Picking first allows the Nuggets a chance to snatch the next best player with no existing affiliations. Forwards Tom Vodanovich and Hyrum Harris, and guards Deone Raukawa (all former Sharks) and Everard Bartlett (Hawks) offer international or professional experience.
"This gives us certainty on where we can go," says Matehaere. "If you're picking second or third, you don't have that certainty, but we can target the player we're after and see how that fits with the rest of our group.
"I've spoken to a lot of the players in the top 14. They're exciting players, and it's a matter of making sure we have all our ducks in a row before going live on Thursday night."
THE VETERAN
At this stage of his career, Tom Vodanovich has everything to play for.
One of the last Tall Blacks cut from the Basketball World Cup squad last year, the 2.01m (6ft 7in) power forward is also off contract with the Breakers and desperate for a forum to push his case on both fronts.
"I love the game," says Vodanovich, 25. "Coming out of lockdown, we all thought the season was over and no-one really knew what was happening.
"It's cool they've figured something out. It will be a trial-and-error thing, I'm sure there will be hiccups along the way and I'm wondering how this draft might go, but I'm just keen to hoop again.
"I know there are a lot of other people who are keen to get out there."
Vodanovich progressed through junior ranks in Wellington and attended James Madison University in Virginia, before making his NBL debut for Southland Sharks in 2018, helping them to victory over Saints in the final.
The following year, the Sharks reached the semi-finals, before succumbing to their rivals.
"I've loved the league so far," says Vodanovich. "Everyone knows everyone and there's an unbelievable amount of talent for a small country.
"Some of these teams could go up against any from around the world - it's been a great league."
But he's also heard the knockers of the new format and agrees with many of their complaints.
"The issues are real," Vodanovich insists. "For some people, this is their job - this is what I do.
"To cut our pay and then use us to throw a league together is questionable."
Now that Level 1 allows spectators at games, he hopes players will be suitably compensated for the six weeks many are relocated away from home, jobs and family.
The randomness of draft entries also annoys Vodanovich.
"The fact that anyone can enter does disrespect the league. I know there are some young people who wouldn't have got a chance otherwise, so it's awesome for them, but some people are taking the piss out of our job.
"We do this everyday and it isn't right that people are just trying to make a laugh out of it.
"The criticisms are what they are and people will say what they want to say, but at the end of the day, if you want to play, this is all that's going on and you've just got to be part of it - or not."
With Wellington and Southland both out of the league, Vodanovich is one of the top free agents available to other teams, a situation that has him on tenterhooks.
"My name's in the mix, so I'll be sitting there watching to see what happens. It is exciting.
"I've been talking to coaches and everyone's wondering how it will all unravel. I hope to go in the first round, but with this whole system, you're going to be on a team with guys you're not accustomed to playing with.
"It will be a learning curve for everyone, but a chance to learn from other people and teach other people too."
THE ROOKIE
OK, so Zack Te Puni isn't exactly a rookie, after gathering splinters on the Super City Rangers bench two years ago.
"I was quite young at the time and about to head off to the States for my freshman year of college," he tells Newshub.
"I was about 18 and I was playing under Jeff Green. I didn't get much time, but it introduced me to what the league would be like as I got older.
"It was a good experience, I got to travel with the boys a few times and it was a real eye-opener, moving from high school basketball into the next level."
Te Puni certainly has pedigree on his side. Dad Roger Te Puni won 11 national high jump titles and held the NZ record for more than a decade, while younger brother Tommy is currently one of the country's top sprint prospects.
The 2.05m power forward was a member of the Rangitoto College team that won back-to-back national schools titles and lost a third final from 2015-17, while also helping Harbour to age-group success at U15/U17 level.
During his actual NBL rookie campaign, when he logged a total of nine minutes across the season, Te Puni's Rangers teammates included league legends Boucher and seven-time champion/three-time MVP Lindsay Tait, as they rode off into retirement.
But his stint at College of St Rose, Albany in New York ended almost as quickly as it began, when the coach that recruited him stepped aside with health issues and his replacement looked elsewhere.
"It is what it is," Te Puni reflects. "I requested a transfer, but I decided to go play in Australia instead.
"New York was far from home and really, really cold most of the year. I had a mate playing in Perth and that seemed like more of an option for me - nice weather, closer to home."
Te Puni scampered home when COVID-19 struck, intending to return across the Tasman at the earliest opportunity.
"The team I was with is now training and getting back on their feet again. That was the plan, but I got a job here and then the NBL thing happened.
"It's a condensed season and things are a bit different, but it's ideal for me. I can make some money and also play in a high-level league back home."
Te Puni understands that this iteration of the league may not be the same standard of the past, but it still provides an opportunity for hungry young bucks like himself to impress whoever's watching.
On draft night, he won't fall into the top 14 prospects, but appeals as a useful pick-up in the middle to late rounds, probably with the Bulls or Huskies, where Braswell and Rosmini College coach Matt Lacey will already know his ability.
"If I got picked up, I wouldn't be worried about where or who it was, because we're all playing in Auckland at the end of the day," says Te Puni.
"I could play with a bunch of boys I know well, or a whole bunch of guys I've never met before and under a new coach.
"I'm really excited and keen to see how it pans out."
Join us for live updates of the Sal's NBL Showdown draft at 5pm Thursday
