Basketball: City Oilers raid transfer market

Feb 25, 2020

The Oilers, JKL Dolphins, Betway Power, KIU Titans have all undergone massive player changes while UCU have brought back a major old flame.

The City Oilers rewrote history in January with a record-setting seventh NBL championship following an epic Finals series against the UCU Canons that will long linger in memory.

But with less than a month to the start of the 2020 season, it is now back to the future and NBL teams have been extremely active laying the ground for the new season, particularly in the transfer market.

The Oilers, JKL Dolphins, Betway Power, KIU Titans have all undergone massive player changes while UCU have brought back a major old flame.

The KCCA Panthers and Sharing Youth have also dived deep into the market while newly-promoted UPDF Tomahawks and NBL debutants Nam Blazers have shored up their ranks with multiple additions.

The Warriors and Ndejje University Angels have lost key talent that may need to be replaced while the Falcons will know that maintaining last year's level could be costly.

In other words, it is a full-blown arms race that could raise new kings and possibly more victims. The Oilers, who start as favourites again, have added Joseph Ikong, Michael Makiadi, among others, in a transfer shakedown that has seen three players from last year's squad exit and five acquired.

The sixth and potentially biggest signing yet could be on the way, with the Oilers having reached a verbal agreement with the player who is still active in North Africa.

"We cannot disclose any further details because although we have agreed in principle, the deal is not yet signed," Oilers chairman Santur Mohammed told New Vision Sports.

JKL have not been afraid to disclose their multiple, potentially game-changing transfer forays. JKL have signed, among others, one-time Silverbacks hero John Baligwire, Innocent Ochera, Daniel Juuko, Christian Kakonda, Kabengele Kabasu in addition to tactician George Mayienga from Kenya.

JKL's additions, obviously matched by several exits, have led some to anoint the Mukono-based club as genuine title contenders.

Mukono's real powerhouses UCU are retaining pretty much the entire squad that came within a game of winning it all last year, with one key change - the return of former hero Sudi Ulanga.

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