Melbourne United has landed a headline-grabbing addition for 2026/27, signing free agent point guard Cole Anthony to a one-year deal and bringing him to Australia’s National Basketball League.
The club made the move official in a press release and didn’t hide how it views the 26-year-old guard, calling Anthony “one of the most athletic and dynamic guards the NBL will have ever seen.”
Anthony arrives after a winding stretch across the NBA landscape. Drafted 15th overall in 2020, he was a steady part of Orlando’s rotation for his first five seasons and landed a three-year, $39MM rookie scale extension before his fourth year. In Orlando, the former UNC standout put up 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 24.8 minutes per game while shooting .419/.345/.847.
But the Magic’s backcourt shifted around him. As Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black emerged, Anthony became the odd man out and was sent to Memphis last summer with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and several draft assets in the Desmond Bane deal. The Grizzlies bought him out, and he then signed a minimum-salary contract with Milwaukee for 2025/26.
That stop didn’t go smoothly. Anthony averaged 6.7 points per game and shot .306 from three with the Bucks, both career lows, before getting traded again in February to Phoenix. The Suns waived him later that month, leaving him on the market until Melbourne United stepped in.
The signing fills United’s roster for next season, according to Olgun Uluc of ESPN, and it comes after a busy summer of reshaping the group. Melbourne has already added NBA veterans Joe Ingles, Luke Travers, and Josh Oduro, with Anthony now joining that mix.
Head coach Jacob Chance said the club targeted exactly the kind of guard Anthony has been throughout his career.
“In this last spot, we wanted an elite guard with the ability to help lead our offense with his scoring ability, who makes his teammates better, while also being a really good person off the court, and Cole Anthony checks every one of those boxes,” Chance said in a statement. “His pace of play, his strength finishing around the rim, his vision, his versatility playing off the ball as a shooter, his willingness to get down in a stance and defend, all of that makes him the perfect guard for this team.
“In my conversations with him, it’s been very clear that his primary focus is winning, and I’m confident that his best basketball is still ahead of him so coming to the NBL we expect him to elevate his game to a new level, in turn lifting everyone around him. This is a huge moment for our club. I already can’t wait to see him in a United jersey inside John Cain Arena.”
United has reached the NBL Finals in both 2024 and 2025, but came up short each time and followed that with a fifth-place finish this past season. Ingles, who overlapped with Anthony in Orlando during 2023/24, also backed the move and said he expects his former teammate to make an impact.
“He’s a great guy, he’s got a big personality, and I think United fans are going to love him,” Ingles said.
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